Let Me be With You
by patleon909
Summary: MinatoxAigis AU; One winter morning, a blonde haired trasfer student presents herself to Class 2-F. She quickly befriends a certain blue haired student, but he soon finds of her shocking secret... and despite that, a bond like no other forms between them.
1. My Name is Aigis

HELLO ! This is patleon909, howdy to everyone that is stopping by to read this fanfic. As I have mentioned many, many times in my previous fanfics, my writing skills aren't all that fantastic, so please, don't criticize me too harshly T-T. So, before this story begins, I must warn any Persona 3 fans who may be reading this that I have made a number of changes to the storyline, including the fact that Shadows, the Dark Hour, and anything related to either/or does not exist. This is a ROMANCE fanfic, so if anyone is hoping for Shadow blood and guts spewing all over the place, please look somewhere else. Anyways, I have also made a few changes to Aigis' character so she can also exist in this universe, and changed a few of the side character's stories a bit. And now, without further ado, please enjoy the story.

**P.S.: **On a side note, this story will be told from the main character's point of view, and for those of you who may not know it, I'm using the name he was given in the manga, Minato Arisato. Also, please note that in this fanfic Aigis IS NOT a robot. And I apologize for any OOC's, but yeah…

**Let Me be with You**

**Chapter 1: My name is Aigis**

"Dude, wake up! The teacher's coming!" a male's voice said, intruding on the peaceful rest I was taking on my desk.

"Forget it Junpei, that's not gonna work with Minato-kun. Here, can you loan me your math workbook?" another voice said, this one a girl's voice.

A few seconds later, I felt a solid, paper-ey kinda object hit me on this side of my head… really hard. "Ow! Dammit Yukari, that hurt." I groaned as I raised my head from my desk.

"Well, it was the only way to wake you up. That's what you get for sleeping at midnight before a school day…" she replied, grinning at my reaction. "Well, you might want to sit up, here comes Ms. Toriumi."

I snapped up into a seated position right as our homeroom walked in through the door… and was shortly followed by a student who I had never seen before.

"Ooh, who's that?" Junpei asked from the desk behind me. "You really expect me to know?" I replied without even turning around.

I studied the girl who had followed Ms. Toriumi in carefully. She had short, blonde hair and had a strange hair band that had something covering her ears, and her frail figure made it look like she could collapse at any minute. I also noticed that she had light blue eyes that were currently trying to avoid making eye contact with anyone from the class.

"All right all of you, settle down." Our teacher called out, silencing the entire class immediately. "Now as you can all pretty much tell, we have a new student. She's new here, so be nice, but I don't want any of you hitting on her. Not that you should have the time to, considering that midterm exams are two weeks away. Now, why don't you introduce yourself?" she said, turning to the fidgeting young girl behind her.

"Oh, ah, uh, right. Well then, um… my name is Yamada Aigis," she stammered, bowing to the rest of the classroom. "It's um… a pleasure to meet you all… uh..." she murmured a few more words that no one could really hear before looking away again.

"Wow, she's cute!" Junpei whispered to me from behind again. "Maybe I should-"

"IORI!" Ms. Toriumi cut in, suddenly appearing behind the now quivering young man. "What did I just finish saying..?"

"Uh, well, I, ah…" Junpei stammered, then, at a loss for words, just let out a low whimper.

"You weren't paying attention? Or you just blatantly ignored me, hmm? Maybe you want to stay after school and scrape the gum off a couple hundred desks…"

"AHH! NO! PLEASE, NO!" the poor boy behind me pleaded, "Anything but that!"

"So then I can trust that you won't try to hit on Miss Yamada again?" Ms. Toriumi said, smiling triumphantly as she walked away from the nervous wreck back to the front of the classroom. "Well then, let's see… hmm. I hate to put you so close to Iori, but the only empty chair next to Arisato-san. Oh, speaking of which, why don't you show our new friend around the school?" she asked, now turning to me.

I groaned. The only reason I agreed to be the "Welcoming Committee" of the class was mainly because I figured that no one would transfer to our school, much less our class. I mean, come on, the odds against something like this happening were totally in my favor. "_Well, guess it's just my luck._" I thought to myself. "Okay, let's go. Follow me… Aigis-san was it?" I said as I rose out of my seat. As we exited the classroom, Ms. Toriumi called for our homework assignment to be passed up, which solicited a few groans from the class, one of which I recognized to have come from Junpei. "_He really doesn't learn, does he…?"_ I thought, shaking my head.

"Well, come on. We can't take too long or we'll miss too much of the lesson." I said, signaling for Aigis to follow me as we walked down the hall. "Anyways, here's the stairs to the first floor and the roof…"

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Fifteen minutes later, I ended our very brief tour of the school in front of the Nurse's Office on the first floor. "And, that's about it." I finished. "So, do you have any questions or can we go back to class..?" I began to ask, but stopped when I saw that the young lady who was supposed to be behind me was nowhere to be seen. "_Great_." I thought. "_Don't tell me she snuck off somewhere_…"

However, this notion was quickly dispelled when I saw Aigis emerge from the Women's restroom down the hall. "Hey!" I shouted as I ran over to where she was standing. "Next time, if you need to use the bathroom, tell me so I know where you are."

The strange thing was, immediately after I stopped talking, she turned to look at me, and she gasped as if she just noticed I was there. "Oh! I'm… uh… sorry for sneaking off… I, uh… had to use the restroom… I'm a little absent-minded, I'm sorry…" she stammered before her voice lowered to a murmur again.

"Eh, don't sweat it, just-" I began, but stopped again because I noticed that Aigis' face was turning red. "Uh… Aigis-san..? Either you have a fever or you're blushing…"

"Ah!" Aigis exclaimed, briefly looking at me before she turned away again. "Uh… Arisato-san… was it?" she said in a low voice that I almost couldn't hear.

"Meh. Arisato-san makes me sound like an old man. Call me Minato-san or Minato-kun, whichever floats your boat." I replied.

"Floats my boat..? But I don't have one…" Aigis began, but stopped briefly before she realized what I meant. "OH! Oh, it's only a figure of speech, okay…" the young girl stammered, her face now an even deeper shade of crimson now. "Well then… Minato… kun?"

"Yes..?" I asked, half expecting her to request something.

"Uhm… I… think I like you…" she finally said after a few seconds.

Silence suddenly filled the halls. Well, they were already empty, so it was more like… a deeper, hollower silence, I guess.

"…"

"…"

"… Are you serious..?" I finally managed to say.

She looked up at me, her face slowly losing its crimson hue. "Uh… well, I think so. I'm experiencing everything that the documentary said that people do when they like someone…"

"The TV? You got that idea from a show?" I said, beginning to think that this was some kind of joke.

"Well, uh… I've never actually felt affection for someone, so I wouldn't know…"

"What on earth are you talking about..?" I asked. This was going nowhere, and I was getting more and more confused every second.

"… Minato-kun… can I tell you something… kind of secret..?" she said slowly, looking up at me with pleading eyes. How could I say no?

"Sure. What is it?"

"Well…" she began. "I'm not… exactly… what you would call normal…"

THIS grabbed my attention. "Really? How so..?" I said. "You're not insane or an escaped prisoner, are you?"

She looked up at me in fright. "NO! No, no, that's not it, I-"she paused. "Oh, it was only a joke." The young blonde-haired girl sighed in relief. "No, that's not what I was about to say. You see… I've been in a comatose state since I was one and a half years old, and have only been conscious for about 5 months."

Once again, that deep, hollow silence filled the hallway. This time, it lasted a lot longer, and Aigis was the one who broke the silence.

"Uh… Minato-kun? Please don't think I'm weird or anything…" she stammered, and looked at me with tears forming in her eyes.

The sight of her tears snapped me back to attention. "No, no, no, no, no. Don't cry Aigis-san." I said hurriedly. "I don't think you're weird, but your situation is certainly… unique." I said, picking my words carefully so that she wouldn't start crying again.

"I'm all right." She sniffed. "Thank you for your concern." She said, smiling at me for the first time I had ever seen, but paused when she saw my shocked expression. "Uhm… Minato-kun? Are you all right?"

Her voice snapped brought me back to reality again. "Ah, uh, yeah, I'm all right. Wow, uh… Aigis-san, you have a really cute smile, you know that?"

Aigis' face turned a deep, deep crimson when she heard my comment, a deeper shade of red than I had ever thought possible. "Oh, well, uh, yes, ah…" she paused and took a deep breath. "Uh… thank you, I-"

Her sentence was cut off by the school bell, which went off, signaling the end of first period. "Oh crap." I said. "We missed first period, Ms. Toriumi is going to kill us…" I groaned.

"What?! But why would she murder-" Aigis began, but quickly realized that I didn't really mean "kill" literally. "It was another figure of speech, wasn't it?"

I decided to joke with her. "No, she really does kill students who miss her class. You better watch your back, she might get you after school…" I said in my scariest voice.

Aigis' reaction was more that I could have hoped for. She completely freaked out, and panic completely spread across her face. "Oh no, oh no, oh no." she said. "Minato-kun, protect me!"

I laughed. "Come on, I was just kidding. Let's go before second period starts. We'll talk during lunch." I said, turning to go to the stairs.

"Minato-kun, that wasn't funny!" Aigis called out behind me. "Wait for me! I don't want to get lost again!" she said, running to catch up to me. "No running in the hallways!" I called out, laughing.

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"So, where have you two lovebirds been?" Junpei asked as Aigis and I sat in our seats.

"I know we're late. Don't rub it in." I said. "And lovebirds? Seriously? Man, you have such a one-track mind. Aigis-san just had a lot of questions for me. Right?" I asked turning to the young lady beside me.

"Oh, uh…" Aigis began, but stopped when I signaled for her to go with it. "Uh, yes, that's right. I'm sorry for keeping you, Minato-kun."

"Minato-kun?" Yukari said, eyeing me suspiciously.

"Hey, it makes her feel more comfortable." I replied coolly. "Right?"

"Ah, yes. That's right." Aigis replied, this time without any hesitation. "Minato-kun gave me permission to address him that way."

"Okay, well as long as he wasn't trying to hit on you…" Yukari said, shaking her head. "You weren't… right, Minato-kun?"

The look that Yukari shot me sent chills down my spine. "Hey, hey. Come on Yukari-chan, you know me. I'm not that stupid, I know I have exams to study for… you might want to keep an eye on Junpei though, he seems to have more than enough free time on his hands."

"Hey! Come on! So what if I don't study? I'm still gonna pass!" Junpei said in an attempt to defend himself.

"Yeah, and one day you're going to invent hovercrafts and laser rifles." Yukari said, rolling her eyes. "Anyway, you two came back just in time, second period's about to start."

"Oh, okay then. Aigis-san, I'll answer any other questions you have during lunch okay?"

Aigis nodded and we sat just as the teacher walked in through the door. "Hello, students." The teacher called out. "Today we'll continue our studies of the Jōmon period. Now, please turn your textbooks to page 28…"

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Second and third period flew by in a flash. As usual, I generally got called on to stand up and answer a question or two, all of which I was able to answer correctly. When the lunch bell rang, our third period teacher dismissed us for lunch. "Remember to be back here in an hour." Our teacher shouted as he left the classroom.

"Okay. I have to go to the office and get some papers. Junpei, you're coming with me." Yukari said, grabbing Junpei's collar as she rose from her seat.

"Aw, come on! Why can't you take Minato-kun?" Junpei whined.

"Because unlike you, your best friend doesn't only think about girls all the time, and he won't bother Aigis-san. Let's go." She replied, dragging my poor friend out the classroom with her.

"Junpei-san is your best friend?" Aigis inquired, turning to me.

"Yeah, I know. He can be a dope sometimes, but he's a good guy deep down. Come on," I said, rising out of my seat. "Let's go to the roof, we can talk there."

We climbed the stairs to the roof, where there was not another soul to be seen. "Are we allowed to eat up here?" Aigis asked, "There's no one else here."

"Oh don't worry, we can eat pretty much anywhere we want, just as long as we don't leave the school grounds and we're back in class in an hour." I replied as I sat on the bench near the door. "Here, take a seat."

Aigis nodded and sat down directly beside me. Not on the bench beside me, I mean the space that was left on the bench I was sitting on. As we began eating, I noticed that she was having a little difficulty with her chopsticks. "Here, don't hold them with your fingers so close to the tip, hold them with your hand in the middle, it makes it a little easier." I said, moving her hand to the proper position on the chopsticks.

She blushed again. "Uh… thank you…"

Shortly after, we finished eating our lunches, and I started asking her questions. "So, what did you mean earlier when you said you were in a coma since you were one?"

Aigis paused and took a breath. "Well, when I was a year and a half old, I apparently fell asleep one night and didn't wake up the next day. My parents rushed me to the hospital, and they thought that I might be dead. However, the doctors performed some tests and scans and stuff, and they saw that my vitals were working and my brain was functioning normally. I just didn't seem to be able to wake up. The doctors ended up feeding me through a tube and using machines to keep my muscles healthy."

"And you said you've only been conscious for about five months..?" I asked.

"Yes, that's right." She began again. "Five months ago, after fifteen years of being unconscious, I finally woke up. My parents were really happy, but I had to spend about a month learning how to walk, and doing other tests for the doctors. After I gained my mobility and my ability to speak, I spent the next four months studying everything that I had missed in my fifteen-year-long coma."

"So you spent the last four months cramming for high school?"

"To put it simply, yes. Thankfully, I was able to learn everything I needed in that short amount of time. I guess my brain just soaked up all the knowledge after fifteen years of not being used." She laughed. "I sound pretty dumb, huh?"

"No way, I could never pull off something like that." I laughed. "It's pretty amazing that you actually managed to do it."

"Thanks." She said, blushing again. "By the way, how does Yukari-san know so much about you?"

"Oh, that's a very good question. You see, my parents died in a car accident when I was five or something."

"Oh… I'm so sorry."

"Don't worry about it, Aigis-san, I got over it a long time ago. Anyways, after my parents died, Yukari-chan's parents offered to take me in, considering that her parents and my parents were really good friends. So, yeah. I've been living in the Takeba household for the past eleven years, and Yukari and I are like siblings now." I laughed. "Yukari-chan's pretty nice actually, she only hits me on my head and that kind of stuff to keep me out of trouble, she feels it's her responsibility."

"And Junpei-san?" Aigis asked.

"Well, Junpei and I met in second grade, and we've been friends ever since. Don't know why though." I laughed. "Just kidding, just kidding. He saved me from going without lunch a couple times when I was in elementary, I would always forget my lunch and Yukari would always scold me, so Junpei would sometimes give me a bit of his lunch."

"Hmm… you certainly have had an interesting life, Minato-kun."

"Yeah… hey Aigis-san, about you saying that you might like me earlier… you were just embarrassed, right?" I asked.

Aigis paused for a minute and thought. "Well, I suppose I was just shy, I mean it was my first time alone with anyone my age, and it was you, so I guess I got a little flustered… Not that I don't like you, I just don't like you… wait… that didn't come out right." The young girl shook her head. "No, um… what I mean to say is… I think you're a good person, Minato-kun, and I like you for that… but I don't think I like you, like as a boyfriend, you know?"

"So in other words, you just like me as a friend?"

"Yeah, I guess so… for now."

"For now?" I asked, pretending like she had hinted something.

Aigis' face turned red and she looked away again. "Well, uh… I guess I might come to like you as something more one day, but… uh… I… ah…" she panicked, trying to find the right words to say.

"Calm down." I said, putting my hand on her shoulder. "We'll take it one day at a time."

However, my coming in contact with Aigis did the opposite of what I had hoped. Instead of Aigis calming down, her face turned an even deeper shade of red and she began panicking. "Oh, ah… Minato-kun… touching my shoulder… I, uh…what… eh… I… ah…"

If her face could become any redder, I would have sworn she had fallen into a bucket of red paint. "Woah, calm down. Deep breaths, deep breaths." I said, rubbing her back, hoping that it would help.

As she took some deep breaths, her face slowly returned to its normal color. "Ah…" she sighed. "Thank you, Minato-kun. I'm sorry for panicking like that, I just well… uh…"

"Panicked?" I said, laughing.

"Ah. Uh, yes… I'm shy like that I guess… I'm really embarrassed…"

"Heh, don't worry about it. Your reaction was strange, but it's all right I guess. It was probably my fault anyways…"

"Oh, no, it was all my fault, I overreacted to a simple touch-"

Our little debate was cut short by the sound of the lunch bell going off. "Oh, we better get back to class. Come on Aigis-san."

"I'm really sorry…" Aigis murmured as we headed down the stairs.

"Hey, don't sweat it." I said over my shoulder. "It was both our faults, so don't worry about it."

Something in that sentence must have reassured Aigis, because she suddenly brightened up and smiled at me again. "You're right. Let's go back to class." She said cheerfully.

"_Man, that smile is so cute._" I thought to myself. Unfortunately, I was paying too much attention to Aigis, and I ran into the door of our classroom as I turned my head to look forward again, and I was so startled from the impact that I actually fell backwards. Stupid me, right?

"Oh no! Minato-kun! Are you alright?" Aigis asked as she rushed over to me.

"Oh, no, it's nothing. I just hit my head on the door, that's all… eheh." I said as she helped my back up.

Thankfully, no one had arrived in time to witness my brief moment of stupidity, although I was still pretty embarrassed. "Are you sure you're okay, Minato-kun?" my blonde-haired friend asked me again. "Your forehead's a little red…"

"Oh, don't worry, that's what I get for running into the door…" I said, rubbing my poor, throbbing forehead. "I can just hide it with my hair I guess."

I looked over at Aigis as students started trickling back into the room. She was trying to look away from me, but I could still see the guilty look on her face. "Seriously, it's nothing too horrible or anything. It's not like I got a concussion or anything… It was my fault for being so stupid…"

"You're not stupid!" Aigis said suddenly. "Minato-kun is really smart, and-"

"Hey you two! How was lunch?" Yukari said, suddenly appearing behind me. Junpei was behind her, with Yukari's hand still firmly grasping the young man's collar.

"God… office… so boring… almost… died… of sheer boredom… whyyy…" Junpei moaned, like all the energy in his body had been sucked out by his trip to the office.

"Oh, Aigis-san and I ate on the benches on the roof. We talked about school and stuff like that."

"And stuff?" Yukari said, eyeing me suspiciously.

"No, I didn't hit on her, Yukari-chan. You're so paranoid." I said, shaking my head.

This, however, proved to be a fatal mistake. When I shook my head, the hair that was covering my forehead was moved out of the way, giving Yukari a complete view of my still red forehead. "_Crap._" I thought, realizing my mistake a little too late.

"Where'd this come from?" Yukari asked, parting my hair to look at my forehead.

"It's nothing, don't worry about it." I said, trying to pull away from her. Unfortunately for me, Yukari had already grabbed a bit of my hair in what Junpei and I call "Yukari's Super Inescapable Death Grip." To put it simply, when she gets a grip on something or someone, she isn't letting go. Period. So, all I ended up doing to myself was inflicting a moderate amount of sharp pain on my scalp.

"This is something, what happened Minato-kun? Did someone shove you in the hallways or something? I'll kick their asses!" Yukari said, getting a very, very scary look in her eye.

I am currently a top member of the school's kendo team, not to mention that I had a black belt in both Aikido and karate, so Yukari really didn't need to worry that much about me protecting myself. However, once Yukari-chan got an idea in her mind, it was damn near impossible to prevent her from acting on it. So, to prevent Yukari from going on a rampage after school, I decided to tell her the truth. And I almost did.

"Uh…" Aigis in a low voice said right as I was about to speak. "Minato-kun's injury was my fault…"

"What?" Yukari and Junpei said at the same time, both turning to look at the young girl sitting beside me. I almost did the same, but quickly realized that she was trying to cover for me.

"Well, uh… after we had finished talking and were heading back to the classroom, I… dropped my handkerchief… and we stooped down to get it at the same time and… ah… bumped our heads together… and while Minato-kun was disoriented, he... uhm… hit his head against the door…" she murmured. "I'm sorry…"

"Really?" Yukari said, eyeing me questioningly. "You must have hit your head against that door pretty hard… whatever, I'll accept that… for now…" she said as our fourth period teacher entered the classroom.

"Thanks." I whispered to Aigis while the teacher had his back turned.

"It really was my fault, I'm so sorry…" she murmured, still blushing a little from embarrassment.0

"Don't worry, it really is nothing much. It was both our faults, let's just leave it at that."

"Okay…"she said, and appeared to brighten up a little bit.

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Just like before, fourth, fifth and sixth periods all went by in a blur. Finally, the last bell

rang, signaling the end of the school day. "WOOHOO!" Junpei cheered. "School's over! Now I can go home and-"

"And goof off instead of studying?" Yukari cut in, grinning.

"Aw come on, Yuka-tan, lemme have some fun… wait, what am I saying? You're not my mother…"

"No, but your mother's going to ground you again if you don't do well on your exams, and you don't want that, now do you?"

Even Junpei knew when Yukari had him beat. "Damn… fine, I'll go study…" Junpei groaned.

"Hold it." Yukari said, grabbing Junpei's shoulder with her "Death Grip". "Just to make sure you don't sneak off, I'm going to escort you to the school library."

"What?!" Junpei protested. "Why can't I go to the public library?"

"Because the public library has manga that can distract you." Yukari said triumphantly. "Come on, let's go." She said, dragging my friend out the door once again. "I'll tell the librarian to not let you out until five, and to make sure that you're not just goofing off."

"NOOOOOOOOO!!!" Jupei wailed. "HELP ME, MINATO-KUN! HEEEELP!" he screamed as Yukari dragged him behind her.

"Oh, Minato-kun." Yukari said, stopping right as she got in front of the door. "I have archery today, so don't wait for me. I'll meet see you at home, 'kay? Later!" she finished, and exited the door, dragging along my now sobbing best friend out the door with her.

"Well… uh… that was certainly… interesting…" Aigis said, with a confused look on her face. "Shall we head home, then?"

We both rose from out seats, gathered our belongings, and walked out the classroom. As we were walking down the hallway, I saw a pair of students who I knew all too well. One was a young girl with black hair with a green tinge, the other was a tall senior who was wearing a brown beanie and a burgundy jacket. "Fuuka-chan! Shinjiro-sempai! Yo!" I called out.

"Oh, Minato-kun! Hello!" Fuuka said, waving as we approached them. "How are you today? Are you going to going to come cook with us? We're heading to Shinjiro-senpai's dad's restaurant."

"Nah, I can't I have to study for the exams that are coming up, sorry." I replied.

"Oh well, that's a shame." Shinjiro-sempai said. "By the way, who's your friend?" he asked, signaling at Aigis.

"Oh, this is Yamada Aigis-san, she transferred to my class. Aigis-san, this is Shinjiro-sempai and Fuuka-chan."

"Uh… hello, it's nice to meet you both." Aigis said, bowing to the both of them.

"Shinjiro-sempai is teaching Fuuka and me how to cook." I said. "Fuuka's been my friend since middle school, and she was the one who introduced me to Shinjiro-senpai."

"Yeah, this kid's a pretty good cook. Fuuka-san is improving too." Shinjiro said, grinning at the both of us. "And I already told you, call me Shinji-sempai, Shinjiro takes too long to say."

"Well, I don't want to keep you, so I'll see you tomorrow, Minato-san." Fuuka said, waving as she walked back down the hallway they had come from.

"Bye! And say hello to Akihiko-sempai and Mitsuru-sempai if you see them, Shinji-sempai!" I hollered as they left.

"Who are Akihiko-sempai and Mitsuru-sempai?" Aigis asked me as we left the school building.

"I met Akihiko-sempai at the gym once while he was training. We spar sometimes, even though we practice different forms of martial arts, and we also hang out sometimes during the weekends. As for Mitsuru-sempai, Yukari-chan asked her to tutor me once, and we sort of became acquaintances after that. They also sometimes come when Shinji-sempai gives me and Fuuka-san cooking lessons." I replied.

"Ah, I see." The young girl said. "You seem to have a lot of friends."

"Oh, well, like I said, Mitsuru-sempai is more of an acquaintance, only Akihiko-sempai and Shinji-sempai are really my friends."

"Ah, I see… by the way, what's the difference between an acquaintance and a friend?" she asked.

"Well… an acquaintance is someone you kind of know, but can't really call a friend… and a friend is someone you hang out with relatively frequently and know a bit more about them than you would an acquaintance… it's a little hard for me to explain."

"I see…" Aigis murmured. "So am I your friend, or just an acquaintance?"

Her question took me by surprise. "Come on, Aigis-san, you're definitely my friend." I replied.

She smiled, as if she was relieved about something. "I'm glad…"

"What brought that question up?"

"Oh, I… well, by your description, it sounded that I'm more like an acquaintance than a friend to you… I don't know too much about you, Minato-kun…"

"Oh, that's it?" I said, kind of surprised. "Why didn't you ask?"

"Oh… well… ah… that never really occurred to me…" Aigis said, with an embarrassed look on her face.

"Well, what do you want to know about me?"

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We continued to talk all the way to the train station. We managed to get seats, which was kind of unusual considering that it was a weekday. As we got off the train at Iwatodai station, a thought suddenly occurred to me. "Hey, is this your stop or did you just accidentally get off with me?"

Aigis laughed. "Thank you, Minato-kun, but this is definitely my stop. I live about twenty minutes that way." She said, pointing in the direction that I was heading in anyways.

"Oh, so you live down the street from me." I said as we started walking.

"I guess I do." Aigis replied.

We continued our conversation until we reached the house that I had lived in for the past sixteen years. "Well, this is the Takeba household. I'll see you tomorrow, Aigis-san."

"Yes… I'll see you tomorrow, Minato-kun…" my blonde haired friend said shyly.

"Wait!" Aigis called out suddenly as I started walking away from her.

"What is it?" I asked, turning around to face her.

"Uh…" she murmured, as her face started turning red. She took a deep breath, then continued. "Minato-kun… always saying Aigis-san must tiring… if you want, you can call me Ai-chan… if it's more convenient for you…" she said, trying to avoid my gaze.

"Oh. Uh… well then, see you tomorrow, Ai-chan." I said, trying out Aigis' new nickname a little nervously.

She looked up at me and I could tell that she had calmed down a bit. "Phew… that wasn't so bad… okay, Minato-kun! Bye!" she shouted, running down the street to her house.

"_Well, school just got a little more interesting, huh…_" I thought as I walked through the front door.

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What will happen in the next chapter? How will our heroes exams go? When will I update next? All these questions will be answered in Chapter 2!

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Phew. That was the longest chapter I have ever, ever typed. Anyways, please read and review, and like I said before, I have made many, many changes to the Persona 3 story, so please don't complain how something I wrote doesn't fit with what goes in the game. I will try and update as soon as I can (hopefully in about a week). Thanks to everyone who's reading!

Patleon909 =D

**P.S.** When I refer to Minato as a sophomore, I mean as in American schooling standards. Technically, in Japan the American high school sophomore would only be a freshman in a Japanese high school, sorry if anyone got confused! Gomen -_-'

**P.S. #2** Also, if you could tell anyone you know about this fanfic, even if they don't know much about Persona 3, as long as they like a decent romance/comedy fanfic I'm pretty sure they'll enjoy it! I'm sorry to beg, but I do want people to read this, ahaha… Thanks =D

**P.S. #3** To any Persona 3 and Persona 3 FES fans who are reading this fanfic, I apologize again if Aigis or Minato (the protagonist) are getting too OOC. However, I did say that she's not a robot I this fanfic, so please bear that in mind. I am trying to do my best to keep Aigis' shyness and sweetness intact, but she's a little more human, so she'll be a little more emotionally flexible than the original Aigis from the game. Again, I apologize if this angers any fans of the game. T-T As for Minato, well… I just altered him a bit… and besides, his personality was pretty much up to the choices you made him make in the game, so yeah…


	2. Welcome to my Home

Hello, one and all! It's Patleon909 with the second chapter of Let Me be with You. I'm grateful to everyone that is supporting and enjoying this fanfic =D. Just a quick reminder that the storyline in this fanfic is not exactly the same as the Persona 3 game, so please don't complain about any inconsistencies with the actual game. Oh, I forgot to mention this in the previous chapter, but in this fanfic the Main Character (Minato Arisato-san) is in the second quarter of his sophomore year in Gekkoukan High, so it's about mid-December. Also, the exams that were mentioned in the previous chapter were midterm exams, which everyone knows and hates. Anyways, I'm going to stop rambling now, so enjoy the chapter and don't forget to review! Constructive criticism is always welcome, insults and beratings will be ignored.

Oh, and thanks to Orpheus-kai and Albireo Imma for being the first two to review!

**P.S.**: For those of you who don't know, Wild Duck Burger is the "Burger King" of the Persona 3 world. Why it had to be "Wild Duck", I'll never know…

**Let Me be with You**

**Chapter 2: Welcome to my Home**

"Phew. Exams are finally done." Yukari said, stretching her arms. "How do you think you did Minato-kun? Aigis-san?" she asked.

"I think I did pretty well." I said proudly. "I'm pretty sure Ai-chan did well too."

Aigis smiled shyly at me. She had been at our school for about three weeks now, and was adjusting to high school life pretty well. She was getting along with all of my friends, had replaced her headband with another one that was exactly like it, minus the ear covers. She was also beginning to act more "normal", although her face still turned red when she came in contact with me. Also, Aigis apparently only wanted me calling her Ai-chan, because when Junpei attempted to do so, Aigis complained to Yukari, who promptly got the poor boy in a submission hold until he promised to address Aigis properly.

"Gah…" groaned the young man sitting behind me, who was currently had his head lying down sideways on his desk. "Second semester finals suuuuuck… All exams suck… I haaaaaaate exams…"

"That's only because you didn't study." Yukari said.

"How can I study when Christmas is right around the corner?" Junpei whined. "Besides, that three hour study session you forced me into was so damn boring, I had to take a week off. Then I just had to cram the week before the exams."

"So how much did you study for midterms, Minato-kun?" Aigis asked me as Yukari started lecturing Junpei about something.

"Oh, I studied about four hours each day for the past few weeks." I said, yawning from how tired I was. "It was kind of hard, but I'm still confident I got good grades. What about you, Ai-chan?"

"Oh, I almost the same thing you did, except that I got scared in the last week before exams, so I ended up studying six hours each day instead of the four I had planned." My blonde-haired friend said, sighing. "I'm still a little nervous though…"

"Don't worry too much." I said, patting her on the back. "If you studied that much, you probably got a better score than me." I whispered to her, grinning.

She blushed. "Well, I guess… I'm confident that I scored well on the science and math exams…"

"Yeah, Aigis-san, I'm sure you did great." Yukari said, who currently had Junpei in a headlock.

"Uh… Yukari-san? Why do you have Junpei-san in a… headlock, that's a headlock right?" Aigis asked worriedly.

"Oh, Junpei was just trying to escape from our discussion about why cramming isn't good for him, so this is his punishment." Yukari said, grinning.

"Help me! She's cutting off the air flow in my neck! Gack!" Junpei choked, still trying to get loose.

"Oh, sorry." Yukari said, loosening her grip a little bit. Unfortunately, this rare act of mercy from Yukari was just what Junpei wanted. As soon as Yukari started loosening the headlock, he slipped out of it.

"YES!" He cheered, as he stretched out his back. Then, he ran out of the classroom, screaming "FREEDOM!!!!" as he ran.

"Dammit, Junpei! That's the last time I show you mercy!" Yukari yelled at the fleeing young man. "The next time I get you in a headlock, you can suffocate for all I care! GET BACK HERE!" she yelled, getting out of her seat to run after Junpei. "Minato-kun, can you take my stuff home please? Thanks!" she said as she dashed out of the classroom.

"That was… strange… why does Yukari-san do those things to Junpei-san?" Aigis-san asked me.

"Well… I guess it's because Yukari-chan finds Junpei-kun's lax attitude so horribly annoying that she's actually trying to cure his stupidity, or at least that's what Yukari-chan told me once." I answered as I began to gather my belongings and Yukari's stuff too.

"So Yukari-san cares about Junpei-san's welfare?"

"Yeah, I guess you could say that. The three of us have been good friends for a long time…" said, pausing to reminisce a little bit.

"Woops, sorry to keep you waiting. Let's go then." I said to Aigis as I snapped out of my memories a few seconds later.

We walked out of the classroom together, and as we were leaving we heard Junpei's screams of horror and pain echoing in the hallways. I shuddered at the thought of the "punishment" Yukari was heaping on him now. "Looks like Junpei didn't run fast enough…" I said nervously.

"Shouldn't we do something?" Aigis asked.

"Nah, it's for his own good… besides, what doesn't kill him will make him stronger… so let's hope Yukari-chan doesn't kill him." I said, laughing nervously.

"She won't really kill him right?"

"Nah, she'll probably tie him to a chair and make him read a chapter of a textbook until he can recite it from memory…" I said, shuddering. "Though that could take the rest of the day…"

We decided to celebrate the end of our exams by going to Iwatodai Station and eating at Wild Duck Burger. I dropped Yukari's stuff off at home first, and then we walked to the station. While our order was being processed, I got fries for us to eat while we waited.

"So why'd you get so worked up about your exams?" I said to Aigis while I ate a few of our French Fries.

"Oh, well when I found that the scores would be posted in public, I didn't want to risk ending up at the bottom of the list, and it was my first midterm ever, so I panicked…" Aigis replied, laughing a little. "I might have gone a little overboard, but hopefully it helped."

"Did Yukari-chan give you some 'encouragement'?" I asked, hoping that Yukari hadn't done anything drastic.

"Actually, Yukari-san gave me some pointers about studying and helped me a little bit… but the rest was all based on what I felt I needed to do."

"Oh, thank God." I said, sighing. "I thought she might have done something extreme…"

"Like what she does with Junpei-san?"

"Hopefully not that bad, but yeah…" I said, and we both shuddered. "I'm sure you got good scores, but don't be disappointed if you didn't do as well as you wanted to."

"Oh, as long as I get a decent score I'll be happy…" she said, smiling.

We continued to talk as we slowly finished our food. When we were about to leave, Aigis got a strange look on her face, like she wanted to say something, but was having a hard time doing so. "Something wrong?" I asked her.

"Oh, uh… it's nothing really…" Aigis said, "It's just… uhm…"

She paused for a moment, as if she were readying herself for something. "Minato-kun… would you like to come over to my house for a few hours?"

I paused after I heard the question. "Uh… sure, but why all of a sudden?"

She blushed. "Well… uh… I figured since… you know, uh…" she stammered, trying to find the words she wanted to say. "I… uh… was just wondering if you'd like to… uhm… see my house… and… uh… meet my parents… uh… but if this is too sudden…"

"Uh…" I said, trying to figure out if something was going on. "Sure, I guess. I just need to call Eiichiro-san and tell him that I'll be home by…" I quickly glanced at my watch and saw that it was 5:15 p.m. "About… is 7:00 okay?"

"Sure, I'll call my parents too." Aigis said, pulling out her cell phone. After we had finished talking to our respective parents, we started walking to Aigis's house.

"Why did you only call Yukari-san's father?" Aigis asked me as we walked out of the station. "Shouldn't you notify Yukari-san's mother as well?"

"Oh, well you see…" I began, "Yukari-chan's mom is a traveling salesperson for the company she works for. Every now and again, she has to go to a bunch of different places and make business deals and such. She's out of town right now, so I don't really need to call her. But when she's not out of town she's usually stuck doing deskwork."

"I see…" Aigis said, her voice trailing off a little bit. "And does that make Yukari-san lonely?"

"Nah, not really, she calls us every evening when she's on a business trip, so it's kind of like she's still in the house. One time, she actually scolded us for forgetting to do spring cleaning while she was on a trip." I said, laughing. "So yeah, it doesn't ever really feel like she's that far away."

We continued to talk as we walked down the street. Finally, after about twenty minutes, we stopped in front a light blue house with a single car parked outside of it. "Well, uh, here it is, this is my home…" Aigis said a little nervously. "It's a little small, but it should be comfortable enough…" she said as she unlocked the front door.

"Dad, I'm home!" Aigis called out once we were inside. "And I brought my friend!"

A man emerged from what I assumed to be the kitchen. He had Aigis's blonde hair, albeit a bit messier, but he was TALL, like six and a half feet. Plus, the fact that he was also very muscular reinforced the idea in my mind that he could easily crush my skull with his little finger.

"Welcome home!" the man said (though it sounded more like a bellow to me) as he hugged his daughter. "Oh, who's this?" he said, giving me a curious look that made me even more nervous than I already was.

"Oh, this is Arisato Minato-kun. Minato-kun, this is my dad, Yamada Keisuke."

"So this is the young man my little girl has been talking about so much!" Keisuke-san said, slapping my back. "Ah, I know that look. Don't worry son, I won't crush your head with my hand!" he exclaimed, laughing.

"Ah, uh, it's nice to meet you sir." I said, almost shaking.

"SIR! Ha! Ai-Ai, you've really found quite a catch! It's so rare to find such a polite young man this day and age! He'll make a fine boyfriend for you!" the man said, grinning.

Aigis's face immediately turned a deep crimson. "Dad! He's not my boyfriend, he's just a close friend from school!"

"Ah, that's right, Keisuke-san" I said, quickly trying to defend my position. "I gave her a tour of Gekkoukan High during her first day of school, and we've been friends ever since."

"Ah, it's all right son, Ai-Ai has told me all about you." the man said, laughing. "And you don't have to address me by my full name, just Kei-san will do. Or Kei-sama if you prefer!" he said, bursting into laughter again.

"Ai-Ai?" I asked, whispering to the still blushing girl beside me.

"It's my dad's nickname for me, I think it's kind of cute." She whispered back. "I'm sorry about him saying that you were my boyfriend."

"What? I'm not?" I said jokingly.

As expected, her face regained its crimson hue. "Minato-kun! Don't tease me like that!" she said, punching me lightly on the arm.

"Oh, that's right!" Keisuke-san said suddenly. "You just missed Ai-Ai's mother, she went to go work the night shift at the hospital. She's a nurse, you know. As for me, I do construction work, though business has been a bit slow lately. Either way, I'm assigned to the morning shift, so there's always someone at home."

I took the time to study what I could see of the house so far. The living room had two sofas and a recliner chair. I couldn't see much of the family room, but from what I could tell there was another sofa and a flat-panel TV on the wall in front of it. There was another doorway near the family room that appeared to be the kitchen, considering that what I hoped was steam was coming out of the doorway.

"Well, I know that you wanted to show this handsome young man around the house, so I'll leave you two for now. I have to attend to our dinner, so make yourself at home." Yamada-san said, walking back to the kitchen.

"Well, uhm…" Aigis said, trying to regain her composure, "I'll show you around, then…"

We started my tour of Aigis' house in her family room, then the kitchen, and a few other rooms in the house. Finally, after about an hour, we stopped in front of a room with a sign on the door that said "My Room" in light blue letters.

Aigis took a deep breath. "Well then… this is my room. There's not much in it and it's a bit plain, but… please, come in." she said, opening the door for me.

Aigis' room wasn't as plain as she had told me… and the statement "not much in it" was completely wrong. The sky blue walls of her bedroom had stacks among stacks of textbooks leaning against them, so much that the dresser, desk and bed that were also there seemed to barely fit into the bedroom, and only the top parts of the wall could be seen. I could feel Aigis's gaze on my back as I looked a little more closely at her room. On the desk was a lamp, along with various other school supplies, as well as more textbooks. The dresser, which I wasn't even going to touch, had a small TV set on it, a DVD player, and several stacks of DVDs, which I found, with closer inspection, were mostly documentaries and educational videos. The closet, which I had only noticed just now, was almost blocked off by more textbooks. "_Damn, she has a lot of textbooks…_" I thought to myself.

"I thought you said you didn't have much in here…" I said, still a little stunned at the sheer amount of textbooks in the room.

"Ah… well, I meant I don't really have anything that's for me, you know… this is the stuff I used to cram for high school…" Aigis murmured. "It's a bit uncomfortable, but right now we don't really know how to get rid of all of them, and I don't really mind…"

"Can you even maneuver through all this?"

"It's a little bit challenging, but yes." She giggled as she made her way over the textbooks to the bed, which she sat down on. "See? Now you try."

I tried to follow what she did and where she stepped, but I fell over at least half a dozen times before I finally reached her bed. "Finally…" I groaned, as I plopped down on the bed.

Aigis giggled again. "I should probably clear a path next time, huh?"

"Do that. Please." I said as I sat up. "So are you doing to try and seduce me or something?"

"WHAT?!" Aigis said, almost shouting, and blushed. "Why would you think that?!"

"Well, you refused to tell me what we were coming here for, you invited me over on such short notice, and we're both in your bedroom sitting on your bed, so-"

My sentence was interrupted when Aigis suddenly thrust something at me, which fell on my lap. I looked down to see a small bag of cookies on my leg. "Uh… what's this?"

My blonde haired friend blushed even more. "Well… Yukari-san told me that your birthday was a few months ago, and well… I figured I'd give you a small gift as a late present, also kind of to show you my appreciation for being my friend and all… I was too embarrassed to give them to you at school, so I figured that I'd invite you over and give them to you here… I probably should have told you, huh..?"

"Wow… uh, yeah, you really should have told me…" I said, relieved that I finally knew the reason why she had invited me over so suddenly. "Thanks."

"I asked Shinji-senpai to help me… I'm not sure myself how they taste, but Shinji-senpai tried one and said they were pretty good, but I'm not sure… I didn't eat any of them…" she paused. "I hope you enjoy them…" she said, still blushing from before.

I opened the bag and popped one of the cookies in my mouth. "Damn." I said as I chewed.

"They aren't good?"

"No, they're… delicious…" I said, kind of surprised. "Where did you learn to bake?"

Aigis' face turned deep crimson again. "I- I've never baked before… are they really that good?"

"Hell yeah!" I said, taking a bite out of another one. "Damn, you're a natural!" I said, grinning. "Try one!" I said, handing her one of the cookies she had given me.

She slowly bit into the cookie, then gasped. "Wow… I made this? This is really good…"

I laughed. "Yeah, you might be able to give Shinji-senpai a run for his money!"

We both laughed. "What does that mean, though..?" she asked me.

"It just means that your baking might be almost as good as Shinji-senpai's."

"It was probably because of his help that they taste so good…" Aigis said, looking down.

"Did he do anything for you?" I asked her.

"Not really. He just explained to me how to do certain things, like breaking an egg, and he showed me how to add some of the ingredients and how to use the oven…"

"But did he help you with any of the actual cooking?"

"No… he just watched over my shoulder and made sure I didn't make any mistakes…"

"Then this was all you." I said, smiling at her. "You made these through your own efforts, no one can take that. Take pride in yourself."

She smiled softly at me. "Thanks…"

We talked for a little longer, then I helped her clear a path out of her bedroom. I would have left after that, but a storm had come out of nowhere, and it was raining cats and dogs, not to mention that the wind looked brutal.

"Uh… yeah… I don't think you can go home in that kind of weather…" Aigis said, looking out the window with me.

"What are you talking about?" Aigis's dad said, suddenly popping up behind us. "He should man up and brave that sucker. The wind isn't that-"

Keisuke-san's sentence was interrupted by a loud THUMP, which came from outside. "Woah! What was that?!" I said, startled.

"Hmm…" Aigis' dad murmured, peering through the window. "Looks like one of our lawn chairs got lifted up and was tossed against the tool shed…" He said, surprised. "Huh… yeah, you should probably stay inside until the storm passes…"

I proceeded to call Yukari's dad, who completely agreed with my decision to stay indoors until the storm subsided. "Well, that takes care of that." I said as I hung up the phone. "So… what now?" I asked Aigis.

"I'm… not sure." Aigis replied, blushing. "We can watch TV to pass the time, if you want…"

"Sounds good." I said, walking over to the couch in front of the TV. "What do you want to watch?" I asked Aigis as she sat down next to me.

"Uh… I think Haruhi might be on right now…"

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We watched TV shows for an hour, and the storm was still raging, though it seemed to be slowly subsiding. Halfway through the third episode of "The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya", I looked outside and saw that the wind had died down, and the rain wasn't as terrible as before. "_Huh… maybe I can leave_ _after this show's done_." I looked at the clock. "_8:13… not too horrible…_" I thought. Suddenly, I felt a slight weight pressing down on my shoulder. I looked to my left and saw that Aigis had fallen asleep… and was now using my shoulder as a pillow. "_Okay…should I wake her up?_" I thought to myself.

My first few attempts to get her off my shoulder were, put simply, utter failures. The first time I tried, I just shook her shoulder gently, which, needless to say, produced no reaction. I tried the shoulder shake again, but nothing happened. For my third attempt, I decided to try saying something. "Aigis, wake up.", I said, shaking her shoulder again. This got me a reaction, although not exactly what I was shooting for. Instead of Aigis waking up, she actually hugged my left arm and snuggled up to me. "_What the hell!?_" I though. Then, I took a look at her face… and my already red face turned even redder. "_Damn, she looks… cute when she's sleeping…"_ Immediately after I thought this I shook my head. "_What the hell am I thinking!?"_ I thought, slapping my forehead with my free hand.

Seeing as she was still fast asleep, and still snuggled up against me, after five more attempts, I figured that I'd just gave up. "Fine, whatever. Keep sleeping_."_ I murmured. "Guess I'm stuck here until you wake up anyways…" I looked at the clock again to check the time. "_Damn… 8:35… is the storm over yet?" _I thought. I looked outside and, lo and behold, the weather had died down enough that I could have gone home… if I didn't have a sixteen year old girl asleep on my shoulder and clinging to my arm. _"Ugh, dammit…"_ I groaned in my mind. "_But she looks really peaceful and cute sleeping like that… it would be wrong to wake her up… besides, how many guys at school would kill to be in my place right now…_" I paused, then slapped myself on the forehead again. "_Stop thinking these things! Damn!_" I thought to myself.

My misery was doubled when I heard a certain man's footsteps approaching us from down the hall. "_Oh crap."_ I thought. _"If Aigis' dad sees her like this, he could get the wrong idea and…_" The image of him crushing my skull between his fingers popped into my mind. _"NOOO!"_ I shouted in my head.

I frantically tried five more times to free my arm from my sleeping friend's grasp, but it was no good. I might as well have tried to get my arm out of a concrete block. "_PLEASE! LET GO! I DON'T WANNA DIE!!!"_ I thought, tugging at my arm.

"Well, well. What do we have here?" a very familiar, and very scary voice said from right behind me. "_Craaaaaaaap…."_ I thought as I slowly turned my head to look over my shoulder.

"Trying to make a move on my daughter, huh?" Yamada Keisuke said with a very annoyed look on his face. "Well, I guess I'm gonna have to crush you skull now, won't I?"

What else could I do but panic? "GAH! Please, no, we were watching TV, and the storm was just going on and on and on and she fell asleep on my shoulder and I tried to get her off but then she got my arm and snuggled against me and-"

My panic-induced blabbering was cut short when Yamada-san put a hand on my shoulder. "Eh, it's all right son, she really did tire herself out these past few weeks with all that studying…" he sighed. "Can I call you Arisato-kun?"

"Uh, sure…"

"Well, then, Arisato-kun, I have a small favor to ask you…" he said, removing his hand from my shoulder.

"Yes sir?"

"Well, you see…" he began, "I can't help but worry about Ai-Ai while she's at your school. I mean, the kids there seem to be pretty decent and all, but…" he paused, sighing. "I don't want her to rush into high school life, if you know what I mean… hell, she spent all of her childhood laying on that hospital bed… and we only had time to teach her what she needed for school…" he sighed again. "So what I'm asking you to do is… please, watch over Aigis while she's at school… try to keep her out of trouble and away from the wrong people… just look after her for me… and if she needs to know about anything, please, please do your best to teach her…" he sighed. "Just watch over her when I'm not there… please…"

I nodded slowly. "I will, Keisuke-san."

He let out a long sigh of relief. "I'm glad that Ai-Ai has such a good friend to look after her… again, I'm sorry for troubling you like this, Arisato-kun." Then, noticing that Aigis was still asleep on my shoulder, he laughed. "Ah, before my daughter makes your shoulder go numb, let me show you the trick to waking her up when she falls asleep like that."

He put his hand behind her head, and slowly, gently… pushed her off my shoulder. The moment her head fell past my shoulder, she snapped awake. "Ah! What… who… AH!" she said, noticing that her arms were wrapped around my left arm. "Oh no, did I fall asleep on your shoulder? And I was hugging your arm… I'm so sorry…" she said, blushing as she removed her arms from mine. "Oh! Dad!" she said, just noticing that her father was peering over our shoulders. "No, no this isn't what it looks like, I just fell asleep while we were watching TV, please don't'-"

"Ah, it's okay." Keisuke-san said, laughing. "We already had a small chat about that, Ai-Ai. Well, the storm's over, so I guess you should go before your parents get worried." He said, standing up behind us. "Ai-Ai, why don't you show your friend out?" he said as he walked away.

"Ah, okay…" my blonde-haired friend said, still blushing from earlier. "I'm so sorry for keeping you, Minato-kun…" she said as she opened the front door for me. "And I fell asleep on your shoulder… I'm so, so sorry, is it numb?"

"Ah, don't worry about it, my shoulder should be back to normal by tomorrow morning." I said. "_It is kind of numb right now though…_" I thought to myself.

"Well… uhm… good night then…" Aigis said as I walked out the door.

"Night." I said. "Call me if you want to hang out tomorrow, you have my cell phone number, right?"

"Yes, I do." She replied, smiling at me again. "I'll see you tomorrow, then." She said, closing the door as I walked away.

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"Where were you?!" Yukari yelled when I got back home. "You said you'd be back at 7, and it's already 9:15!"

"Didn't Dad tell you that there was a huge storm and I had to wait it out?"

"Yeah, well… the storm quieted down about 40 minutes ago, so no excuses!" she said, hitting me lightly on my head with a rolled–up newspaper.

"Fine, fine. Sorry for making you worry, Yukari."

"Well, I hope you enjoy your cold dinner."

"I will."

"Ugh, fine. I'll warm it up for you." Yukari sighed, putting down the book she was reading and headed for the kitchen. "So, where were you?"

"At Ai-chan's house." I replied as I sat down at the dinner table.

"What for?" She asked from the kitchen.

"You told her my birthday was a few month back, so she invited me over to give me a small gift because she was too embarrassed to give it to me at school."

"Oh? What was it?"

"It was a small bag of cookies that she baked herself. They were really good."

"Really? That was nice of her." Yukari said, emerging from the kitchen with my plate of food. "Here's you dinner." Yukari said as she set the plate down in front of me. "Well, I'm gonna go to my room and read there. Knock if you need anything." She said.

"Thanks." I replied as I began eating.

"Kay, night Minato-kun."

"Good night."

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What will happen in the next chapter?! Is Yukari jealous of Aigis? Or maybe she will actually approve of what might be coming? And is Minato starting to like Aigis?! Why do I keep rambling like this?! Find out in Chapter 3! (Whenever I get the chance to update, which hopefully won't take too long -_-')

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Well, that's chapter 2! Hope everyone enjoyed meeting Aigis' dad in my fanfic, as well as visiting Ai-chan's house! So, don't forget to review! I'll try and update as soon as I can =D Thanks to everyone who's been reading so far =D! Until next time!

Patleon909


	3. It's Winter Vacation!

Hello again! Patleon909 here with Chapter 3 of "Let Me be with You"! Sorry for the wait, but I've been busy, hahaha. Anyways, please enjoy the chapter, and I hope you all like it! Don't forget to read and review, and please remember, constructive criticism is best please! And I know it's strange that I'm releasing a Christmas chapter when it's not Christmas time, but… well, I can't really distort the flow of time in my fanfic now can I...? Well, I could, but it wouldn't be fair to the characters in the story. Anyways, here's the chapter, enjoy! Be sure to leave a review please!

**Let Me be with You**

**Chapter 3: It's Winter Vacation!!**

"_Ugh. What time is it?_" I thought, yawning. Suddenly, I remembered something very important. "It's winter vacation! WOO!!" I shouted, pumping my fist into the air. I quickly covered my mouth and checked the clock. "Phew. 9:11. I probably didn't wake anyone up with that."

I paused. I felt like there was something I had forgotten… something… important…

The buzzing of my cell phone interrupted my train of thought. However, the text massage that I had received quickly reminded me of what I had forgotten. "Crap. Yukari and I are supposed to go to Paulownia Mall and buy all the stuff for the Christmas party we're gonna throw…" I groaned. How could I have forgotten? We had been planning this since October, sending out invites and all that. We had only gotten permission from our parents because we agreed to take care of everything, snacks, food, clean-up, EVERYTHING. In the end, we decided to only invite Junpei, Fuuka, Shinji, Akihiko and Mitsuru. Well, I also decided to invite Aigis at the last minute too.

"Wake up. I'm ready to go, eat breakfast quick. Waiting till 9:30 then I'm going." The text message read.

"Short and to-the-point… that's Yukari-chan for ya…" I groaned. I quickly took a horrendously cold shower, dried off, threw on a pair of jeans, a t-shirt, sweater, jacket and scarf, then dashed out of my bedroom, nearly choked as I almost crammed down a piece of toast, and burst out the door.

"9:28. Good timing." Yukari said, who was reading a book on the bench next to our front door. "Shall we get going then?"

"I nearly froze in the shower since I had to rush." I whined, shivering. "I could have caught a cold. Why didn't you wake me up earlier?"

"Come on, you're a man aren't you? Suck it up." Yukari said as she rose from the bench and put her book in her purse. "Fine." She sighed. "I'll buy you a hot chocolate when we finish all of our shopping."

"Woo!" I cheered. "Let's go, go, GO!"

"Says the person who overslept and had to rush to get ready on time." Yukari said as we started walking to the train station.

"You could have woken me up earlier." I grumbled.

"I tried. Many, many times. I even smacked you on the head with one of your workbooks. You were out like a light. So, I just gave up."

"So then why'd you sent the text message?"

"I didn't want to bother going back into your room to remind you that we had shopping to do. So when I heard you shout, I just texted you a reminder."

"Meh. Yukari-chan's so mean."

"So that means I'm not gonna buy you hot chocolate then?"

I groaned in my mind. She had me cornered. "I think I'll drop the subject now…"

"Good boy." Yukari said, grinning at me.

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After we got on the train, rode to Port Island station, and took the bus to Paulownia Mall, all of which took about 40 minutes, we finally arrived. "Ooh." I said, marveling at all the decorations that were set up in the mall.

"Wow, the Christmas decorations this year are really nice." Yukari said, gazing at the lights and other Christmas stuff that had been set up. "Now let's see… we need chips, dip, Christmas cake, tablecloths, napkins, trash bags, soda, brownies would be nice…"

I looked around as Yukari continued reading from the shopping list. "_Christmas is so awesome…_" I thought to myself. "_The decorations, giving and receiving gifts, the awesome Christmas food…just the spirit of Christmas, it's all so… awesome… it gives me a fuzzy feeling inside… the vacation time's a nice little bonus too…_"

My thoughts were interrupted when a rolled up newspaper smacked me on my head. "Are you even listening?" Yukari said in an annoyed voice. "So, as I was saying, we should try to buy what we need while the mall's not too crowded…"

"Ow… that hurt." I said, massaging the part of my head that Yukari had it. "I better not get a bruise…"

"You won't get a bruise from a rolled-up newspaper."

"With how hard you hit? I wouldn't be surprised."

My head-massaging was interrupted when someone bumped into me, which made me bump into Yukari, who proceeded to drop her purse, scattering her various belongings on the floor.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" the person said, panicking. "Let me help you pick up your belongings…"

The voice sounded… strangely familiar… "Ai-chan..?"

The person who had run into me looked up quickly, and lo and behold, it was Aigis, who was wearing a cream colored jacket, a light blue scarf, a white sweater and a pair of jeans.

"Oh! Uh, Minato-kun, Yukari-san! What are the odds, running into you here…" she said. "Ah! Well, uh, literally I guess…" she murmured, blushing.

"It was nothing, just pay more attention to where you're going next time." Yukari said, dusting herself off. "So what are you doing here? Shopping for gifts?"

"Ah, well, I already bought all the gifts that I needed to, so I was on my way to buy the outfit I'm going to wear to the Christmas party."

"Oh, well Minato-kun and I were on our way to buy the supplies that we need for the party, so if you want, you can come with us and after we get everything we need, we'll help you pick out an outfit for the party."

"Oh, okay, uh, sure." Aigis said a little nervously. "But won't I be getting in the way?"

"Nah, don't worry about it, we're happy to help." Yukari said, smiling at our blonde haired friend. "Come on, let's go. The first thing we need to buy is the snacks…"

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We spent about an hour and a half running around the mall, going from store to store to buy what we needed. Fortunately, Yukari had already planned our route through the mall, so at least we didn't have to run back and forth across the mall. Finally, after spending… well, I forgot, I lost track after the first half hour, but we managed to get everything on Yukari's list. Oh, and I wound up carrying everything.

"Phew. That's everything." Yukari said, crossing off the last item on our list. "So how much money do you have to spend on your outfit?"

Aigis checked her wallet. "Well, my parents gave me about ¥15000 to spend on presents and my outfit, but I spent about ¥7000 on the presents so I have… roughly ¥8000 left."

"Oh, that's great then. I know this store here that sells really nice clothes at great prices. Let's go!" Yukari said, dragging Aigis and me by our wrists.

"Is Yukari-san always this enthusiastic when she shops for clothes?" Aigis asked me in a low voice.

"Yeah, she is. Heck, when she buys clothes for herself, she usually drags me along, and I end up carrying like a dozen bags by the end of the trip. Yukari really likes fashion and all that stuff, I really don't get why…"

"Me neither, I say 'Wear what works.'" Aigis replied. "Is that strange?"

"Heck no! I completely and totally agree with you. In fact, there was this one time that we spent an extra hour shopping because Yukari wanted this t-shirt in a specific shade of blue… ugh, that was a horrible experience." I groaned.

"You and Yukari-san hang out a lot, don't you?" Aigis said, giggling.

"Yeah. We're like brother and sister, so she drags me along as her slave monkey when she goes shopping, but afterwards she usually compensates me with a treat of some sort. For example, after we're done here, Yukari's gonna buy me a hot chocolate."

"Oh, I see… but what's a slave monkey..? You don't get treated like some animal, do you?"

"No, a slave monkey is… well, it really just means that I have to carry all the things Yukari buys, which is usually a lot."

"Ah, I see… so do you enjoy hanging out with Yukari-san?"

I paused to think about that one. "Well, it's kind of nice hanging out with her, even if I do have to carry everything… I'd probably enjoy it more if she helped with at least a bag or two… well, at least she usually buys me a snack after we finish…"

"I see…" Aigis murmured. Our conversation was interrupted when Yukari stopped in front of a clothing store.

"We're here!" Yukari proclaimed with a wave of her hand. Yukari herself had been to this store several times when shopping for clothes. I remembered that their selection was quite diverse, and the prices were also pretty reasonable. Its doorway had decorative snowflakes hanging from it, and the display windows also had numerous Christmas lights hanging from them.

"Wait here." Yukari said as we entered the store, forcing me onto one of the benches that were near the entrance of the store. "Aigis and I are going to pick out some clothes and…" she paused for a moment. "Actually, come with us, you can carry the clothes." She said, grabbing my wrist and pulling me up from the bench.

Yukari went down each and every aisle, grabbing whatever Aigis liked, which was promptly tossed to me for "safekeeping". After the stack of clothes I was carrying reached a foot above my head, Yukari finally decided that we had enough. "Okay, let's find the outfit that suits you. To the dressing rooms!" she shouted.

We walked over to the counter where the store employee was assigning dressing rooms. "Excuse me, do you have family dressing rooms here?" Yukari asked.

"Sure." The lady behind the counter said, handing Yukari a green plastic rectangle thing with a "#4" on it. "It's down that way." She said, pointing down the hallway that was closest to the desk. I looked to the left and right, and saw two additional hallways, which I remembered to be the male and female dressing rooms. "_So that's what_ _the middle hallway was for… I always assumed it led to an employee break room or something… heck, probably everyone that comes here assumes that… probably because they don't have a sign for it…"_ I thought to myself.

"Thanks. Come on, this way." Yukari said, gesturing for both Aigis and me to follow.

"Why are we going to the family changing rooms Yukari-san..?" Aigis asked a little nervously.

"So you can get both of our opinions without us having to walk in and out of the dressing rooms." Yukari replied as we got to Dressing Room #4, not that it mattered considering that the Family Dressing Rooms were empty except for us. "Now, stand out here, Minato-kun." Yukari said, pushing me so that I was beside the door of the dressing room, facing away. "Oh, and if you peek, I'll gouge out your eyes." She finished in a completely normal, nonchalant voice.

"Of course." I said coolly. "Do you really think I'd do that though?"

"I guess not. You're not that kind of guy." Yukari sighed. "It's just a precaution."

"It's a bit extreme though, isn't it?"

"Whatever, just stay out here and don't look in."

The outfit selection process worked like this: Aigis stayed in the dressing room, while Yukari would come out every few minutes and grab several pieces of clothing from the enormous stack in my arms. When Aigis was done changing, Yukari would lead her out of the dressing room and let me see Aigis. We gave our opinions, then, since Aigis didn't like the first dozen outfits that she tried on, she and Yukari went back into the dressing room. "Okay!" Yukari said after a while. "Try number… uh… is it 15? Or 17? I lost track…"

"Try number 16." I said.

"Okay! Try number 16! I think we've really got something here." Yukari said, with a sort of joyful tone in her voice. I set down the stack of clothes in my arms as Aigis emerged from the dressing room, with Yukari behind her. To say that she looked good would have been the understatement of the century. She was wearing a light grey jumper dress, which had a collar that cut off just below the collarbone, black leggings, and the skirt went just below Aigis' knees. Beneath the dress Aigis was wearing a navy blue turtleneck sweater, with the sleeves rolled up so that her hands could be seen, and the turtleneck's collar was rolled down so that only covered the bottom half-inch of her neck. The outfit itself was cute, but what made her look really, really cute was that she was blushing so much, and was trying to look away, even though Yukari was trying to get her to look up at me.

"Wow…" was all I could manage to say.

Aigis looked up at me nervously, and blushed even more when she saw the amazed look on my face. "Do… do I look okay?"

"Well, uh, yeah…" I said, scratching the back of my head. "You look really good… ah, I'm sorry that I'm talking like this it's just… wow…"

"Yeah, you really look cute in that outfit Aigis!" Yukari said, patting Aigis on the shoulder. "You've even stunned Minato-kun, and trust me, that's a good thing."

"R- Really…?"

I snapped back to attention after that. "Oh, yeah. Sorry, it's just that… you really do look cute Ai-chan… I was so surprised… haha…"

"…That's a good thing, right?"

"It is, don't worry." I said, laughing. "I'm serious though, you really look cute in that outfit."

"…Thanks…" Aigis said, blushing.

"Okay! Well, now that we have your outfit ready, let's go pay for it!" Yukari said, leading Aigis back into the dressing room. "Oh, and Minato-kun…"

"I know, I know, no peeking, eye gouging, all that." I said, rolling my eyes.

"Good. Now stay put." Yukari said before she disappeared back into the dressing room.

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"Okay!" Yukari said after we paid for Aigis' outfit, "We still have some time left before we have to go home, so you two can do whatever you want. Just make sure to be at the entrance by 1 p.m., okay?"

Both of us nodded. "Okay, good." Yukari continued. "Well, I'm off to the bookstore, and maybe I'll buy some other things too… Oh, and Minato-kun? Make sure to keep an eye on Aigis-san so that she doesn't get lost okay? Oh, and here's some money for hot chocolate." Yukari said, handing me the money before she walked away.

"So… um… what do you want to do?" Aigis asked a little nervously.

"Well, for starters, I wish I could teleport home so I wouldn't have to carry all this stuff with me." I groaned. "But since I can't do that, wanna get a photo sticker?"

"Photo sticker? What's that?"

"Oh, a photo sticker is where… well… uh, basically, you take a photo, and then the machine turns it into a sticker. People either collect them or just stick them to stuff."

"Oh, I see. Okay, let's go." Aigis said.

I sighed in relief. I was glad that Aigis didn't ask me why I wanted to get a photo sticker. Actually, I wanted to get a photo sticker with her as part of my Christmas gift to her.

We spent about twenty minutes in the photo sticker booth trying various poses. After the sheets of photo stickers printed, I immediately found the picture that I thought would fit my present the best. "_Hehe, perfect."_ I thought to myself as I put the photo sticker that I had chosen in my wallet. "_Now all I have to do is cut it into a circle, laminate it and…"_

"Come on, Minato-kun!" Aigis called out to me from the ice cream stand. "You promised me you'd buy me a hot chocolate!"

"Ah, right. Coming!" I shouted running over to where Aigis was standing.

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"Oh, Minato-kun. Can I ask you something?" Aigis said while we were in the middle of finishing our drinks.

"Sure. What is it?"

"Well… um… was there any particular reason that you wanted to take those photo stickers with me?"

I froze. _"CRAP."_ I thought. "Well, uh… it's kind of… well… uh… it's a secret, I can't really tell you now… sorry…"

"You aren't going to do anything strange with it, are you..?" Aigis asked in a low voice.

I almost choked on my hot chocolate when I heard her say that. "WHAT?!" I shouted, "No, no, no, no, no, no, no, I would never-"

My panicking was interrupted when my blonde haired friend started giggling. "I know you wouldn't do something like that, Minato-kun. I was just teasing you."

I groaned. "Geez Ai-chan… don't ever tease me like that again…"

"I won't, I won't." Aigis said, smiling again.

"Don't tell me Yukari-chan's personality is rubbing off on you…"

Aigis laughed. "Don't worry, I just wanted to see you blush."

She was right, my face had turned red for a second there. But, her comment had inadvertently led to an awkward silence. "Ah… uh… I didn't mean it like that…" Aigis said, slowly realizing what her statement suggested. When she fully realized what she had suggested, her face turned that oh-so-familiar deep crimson. "NO, no, no, no, I didn't mean it like that, it's just, ah, eh, ahh…" she stuttered, panicking. After she took a few deep breaths, she continued. "Well, it's just that… you've teased me a few times before like that… and, well… I felt that… you know… it was my turn…"

"Oh…" I said, a little relieved. "Well, I guess you're right, I do tease you a little too much…" I sighed. "Ah, okay. I'll try and cut down on the teasing, okay?" I said, smiling at my friend, who blushed again.

"Thanks… and don't worry, I won't tease you like that again unless you give me a really good reason to."

"Deal." I said, shaking Aigis' hand.

"Oh, wait… what time is it?"

I glanced down at my wristwatch, which said that it was 12:47. "Oh, we should probably head to the entrance, huh?" I said, getting out of my chair and reaching for the dozens of bags that were beside my chair.

"Ah, wait." Aigis said, rushing over to me. "Let me help."

"Nah, it's okay. It wouldn't be very gentleman-like if I made you carry some of these."

"Oh come on, don't be stubborn. At least let me carry the bag with my Christmas outfit in it."

"Okay, fine." I said, handing Aigis the bag with the clothes she bought. However, while I was handing her the bag, she snuck over to my other hand and snatched a few bags away from me.

"What are you doing?" I asked, reaching for the bags she had taken. But to my surprise, and my puzzlement, she wouldn't give the bags back.

"Come on, Minato-kun. Let me help you." Aigis said, holding the bags she had taken out of my reach.

"I can't. They're our stuff, don't worry about it."

"I can't not worry about it! I want to feel useful, not that I'm just following you doing nothing. Besides, a burden shared is a burden halved, and I want to help you."

"Fine." I said, sighing in defeat, "Take only what you can carry, and don't overstrain yourself okay?"

"Yay!" Aigis cheered, picking up four bags in each hand. "And don't worry about me, I'm stronger than I look."

"Well, it's sort of unusual that you want to help me carry the bags. Most of the girls at school would jump at the chance to have a guy carry all their stuff."

"Does it make me weird that I want to help?"

"Well, it's not really weird, it's more… rare, I should say. It's a good thing though."

"Oh, okay then."

We got to the entrance of Paulownia Mall at 12: 53, and continued to talk until Yukari arrived two minutes later. "Hey, you two got here before me! I'm impressed."

"Yeah, so let's get going." I said. However, as soon as I started walking, Yukari grabbed the collar of my jacket.

"Hold it. Why is Aigis carrying some of the bags?"

Before I could say anything in my defense, Yukari pulled out the newspaper, rolled it up, and proceeded to hit me on the head repeatedly with it. "HOW COULD YOU MAKE AIGIS-SAN CARRY OUR BAGS YOU LAZY IDIOT!?" She shouted at me, striking me one on the head for every word she said.

"Ah. Wait, Yukari-san, please." Aigis said in the middle of Yukari's assault.

"Oh, sorry about Minato-kun making you carry some of the bags. If you want, I could make him carry you on his back to your house as punishment." Yukari said, not letting up on her attacks on my head for even a second.

I could tell that Aigis was very embarrassed by the idea of me giving her a piggy-back ride all the way home because she blushed immediately after Yukari offered the idea, not that I could see too well since I was cringing from how hard Yukari was hitting me. "No, no, no. Yukari-san, Minato-kun didn't make me carry these bags, I actually took them from him because he wanted to carry everything for me."

Finally, Yukari's assault halted abruptly. "Oh… really? Wow Minato-kun, I didn't know you were that much of a gentleman. Sorry about hitting you on the head so much." Yukari apologized, scratching her head embarrassedly.

"Nah, it's okay, I got used to it." I said, rubbing my head. "Damn, you hit hard though, even with a stupid rolled-up newspaper..."

"Well then, since we're all here, let's go. Minato-kun and I need to go get some things ready for the party." Yukari said, walking towards the bus station.

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"Okay, we're here." Yukari said, as we arrived in front of our house.

"Okay then, see you at the party, Minato-kun, Yukari-san." Aigis said as she turned to leave. "It's on December 25 from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. right?"

"Yeah." Yukari replied. "Hey wait Aigis!"

"Yes?"

"Here." Yukari said, pushing me towards Aigis. "Minato-kun's gonna walk you home."

"Why? And why don't I have a say in this?" I protested.

"Because, she could get kidnapped, or run over, or she could fall into a ravine, or all of those together."

"And what are the odds of any of that happening?"

"… Just do it. Or I'll disassemble your TV and scatter the parts all over the house."

I knew that she could, and probably would, follow through with that threat, so I gave in. "Fine, I'll do it."

As Yukari grabbed the bags and walked with them to the house, Aigis and I began walking the relatively short walk to her house.

"Sorry to bother you like this." Aigis said after we arrived at her house about twelve minutes later.

"Nah, it's okay. Yukari-chan isn't really one to explain herself, but it's all right."

"Then why did you complain like that?"

"Well, I just wish Yukari wouldn't jump things on me like that." I said, scratching the back of my head. "It wouldn't hurt to let me know a little bit in advance, would it?"

"I guess you have a point… but was it really that bad?"

"No, it's just that… ugh… uh… gah… dammit I offended you didn't I..?" I said, trying to figure out how to say what I wanted to. "Damn, I can't think straight."

My mental suffering was interrupted when Aigis started giggling. "What's so funny?" I asked.

"Don't worry, I wasn't really offended. I know that Yukari-san probably jumps things on you a lot and it was probably just a reflex. Besides, I learned something new about you today."

"And that would be?"

"Well, Minato-kun has always been so cool and level-headed all this time, but now I know that even you get embarrassed and frustrated sometimes. It makes me glad for some reason… to know that you aren't completely immune to those kinds of feelings."

"Really…"

Our little chat was interrupted when my cell phone buzzed in my pocket. I had received a text message from Yukari that went like this:

"WHY THE HELL ARE YOU TAKING SO LONG!? STOP FLIRTING WITH AIGIS-SAN AND GET BACK HERE NOW!" – Yukari

"What's wrong?" Aigis said, peering over my shoulder to read the text message. However, after she finished reading it, her face turned red. "You're flirting with me?"

It was my turn to turn red. "WHAT?! No, no. Yukari always assumes the worst when it comes to me, so she's just joking, don't worry about it."

"Oh okay. Well, I don't want to keep you and risk increasing Yukari-san's wrath, so… I guess I'll talk to you later then."

"Make sure to call me if anything comes up!" I said as I ran off towards my house.

"I will! See you at the party then!"

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What will happen at the Christmas party go? What will Minato's present to Aigis be, and why does it need a photo sticker of them together? Will Yukari and Minato really have to clean everything up by themselves? Is my end-of-the-chapter rambling getting annoying?! Find out in Chapter 4, coming soon to a near you!

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Whew. That's chapter 3. It was about as long as chapter 2, wasn't it? Anyways, thanks to everyone who's been reading this so far, so thank you very, very much! Don't forget to read and review, and I'll try to have chapter 4 up by next week!

Patleon909 =D

P.S.: I'm not exactly sure how widely celebrated Christmas is celebrated in Japan, but I've seen Christmas pop up in numerous mangas and animes that I've watched, and I found various articles saying that Christmas is celebrated in Japan (although for a few different reasons), so I'm assuming that Christmas is celebrated over in Japan as a holiday for gifts and partying and taking a day off and the like.

One more thing, a jumper dress is the kind of dress that Furukawa Nagisa wears, look it up on Google or something if you want to see what it looks like.

Oh, and FYI, apparently it's 95 yen per U.S. dollar, so I think 15000 yen is about $150, give or take.

Oh, and don't forget to tell anyone you know who's a Persona 3 fan or who enjoys romance/comedy fanfics about my fanfic! Please, I need feedback on this fanfic, and for that I need readers! Again, sorry to beg T-T.


	4. Time to Party!

Welcome, one and all, to Chapter 4 of "Let Me be with You"! To all of the readers who've supported me so far, thank you very, very much! Well, I don't want to keep you for too long, so here's the Christmas party chapter! Please enjoy, don't forget to read and review, and please, don't be too harsh!

P.S.: I appreciate everyone who's added this to their Story Favorites/Alerts, but… uh… if you could also leave a review too, that would be awesome. I need the reviews to raise my self-esteem hehe -_-' Well, just keep that in mind please.

Disclaimer: I do not own Persona 3, any of the characters in Persona 3, nor the song "Holy Night", sung by Kugimiya Rie and Kitamura Eri in the Christmas episode of Toradora!. Speaking of which, I don't own Toradora either, so please don't sue me for putting the song in this fanfic T-T. And to save myself some more agony, I don't own any of the songs that I used in this fanfic, so again, no lawsuits please T-T I don't think Phoenix Wright will be able to save me from that kind of lawsuit -_-

Oh! And thanks to Orpheus-kai and JJEmpire for reviewing!

**Let Me be With You**

**Chapter 4: Time to Party!**

"Minato-kun! Is everything ready?" Yukari shouted from the kitchen.

"Yeah!" I yelled back. "Food, snacks, drinks, tables, tablecloths, everything's ready!"

"Good! Help me fix these streamers! And check if the Christmas decorations are all in place!"

I groaned as I ran over to help Yukari. It was about an hour and twenty minutes until our Christmas party was going to begin, and Yukari wanted to do a last-minute check to make sure that everything was in place.

"Well, everything seems to be in place, looks like this party's gonna rock!" Yukari cheered, as she got off the stepladder, which she was using to check the party streamers. "Now, what to do for the next hour…"

Our thinking was interrupted when we heard someone knocking at the door. "Huh… wonder who that is? Minato-kun, would you get the door please?" Yukari asked as she headed to her room.

"Fine. And hey, you said please for once." I said as I got up from the sofa.

"What was that?"

"Nothing." I replied quickly.

I opened the front door to be greeted by Aigis, who was wearing the same cream-colored jacket and light blue scarf as before, along with the outfit that we helped her pick out. "Oh, hey Ai-chan."

"Hi, Minato-kun, Yukari-san." Aigis said, smiling at me and waving at Yukari. "I came early so I could help out if you needed some extra help."

"Oh, we got everything done earlier, so… yeah… but still, come in. You can hang out here with us, why not."

"Oh, thank you. Sorry for the intrusion." Aigis said as she stepped inside. As she put her jacket on the coat rack that was beside the door, I couldn't help noticing again how cute Aigis looked in her outfit.

"Wow, so this is Minato-kun and Yukari-san's house… it's very nice in here."

"Oh, uh, yeah, thanks!" I said, snapping out of my daze. "Oh, would you like some hot chocolate?"

"Minato-kun, are you okay? You have this weird look on your face…"

"Oh, it's just… gah, I can't lie to you, I still can't get over how cute you look in that outfit…"

"Aww, stop it Minato-kun, you're making me blush…" Aigis said, hitting me lightly on my arm. "By the way, you mean that in a completely friendly manner right? Because if you're trying to hit on my, I can get my dad to take care of you…"

The dreaded mental image of my skull being crushed between Keisuke-san's fingers popped into my head again. "NO! I mean it as a completely friendly compliment, please, please, PLEASE don't tell your dad to crush my skull!"

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding." Aigis giggled.

"I seriously think Yukari-chan is rubbing off on you too much…"

"I heard that!" Yukari yelled from her room.

"I appreciate the compliment, though." Aigis said, smiling at me. "And don't worry, Yukari-san isn't going to rub off on me any more than she already has."

We continued to talk in the living room until the guests started arriving, the first of which was Junpei, who arrived immediately after Aigis had excused herself to grab a snack from the kitchen.

"Hey! I'm here! " Junpei hollered when he arrived. "I brought my karaoke machine!"

"I didn't ask you to bring it." Yukari said, who was now reading a book on the couch.

"Aw, come on Yuka-tan, you don't really expect us to just drink, eat and talk for the next five hours do you?"

"Meh, fine. But if it causes a major disturbance you're out of here, got it?"

"Woo! No physical punishment from Yuka-tan!"

"Oh, thanks for reminding me. If your karaoke machine causes too much of a disturbance, I'll tear your arms off."

"What!? Come on, Yuka-tan, have a heart! It's Christmas!"

"Meh, you're right… Fine, I'll only tear your left arm off." Yukari said with a gleam in her eye.

"Damn, I can't win with you…" Junpei groaned. "Oi, Minato-kun, mind giving me a hand hooking this up to the TV?"

"Don't knock the TV down you two!" Yukari yelled.

"We won't!" we yelled back.

"By the way, you didn't forget your Secret Santa presents, did you?"

"Of course not, Yuka-tan. I still don't see why we're doing that though."

"We're doing Secret Santa because I said so, and besides, you were the only one against it."

"Aw, come on. Why do I have to use my money to buy a gift?"

"You do realize that you're getting one as well..?"

"…Oh…"

"Ugh, you complain without even fully understanding what you're complaining about…" Yukari sighed. "You're really stupid like that."

"Ouch! That hurts, Yuka-tan."

"Well, it's kind of true…" I said, joining into their little argument.

"What?!" Junpei gasped. "Yuka-tan! You've hypnotized my best friend to betray me! How could you?!"

"Hey, it's the truth! Just accept it!"

"NEVER!"

Yukari and Junpei's argument was cut off again when the doorbell rang. "Oh, more guests. Coming!" Yukari shouted as she ran to the door.

"Merry Christmas everyone!" Fuuka called out as she walked through the door. "Hope I'm not too early."

"Hey Fuuka-chan!" I yelled from behind the TV as I finally finished hooking up the karaoke machine to the TV. "Phew, that's finally out of the way."

"Oh, hello Minato-kun! Merry Christmas."

"Well, well, don't you look cute, Fuuka-san." Junpei said, popping up from behind us.

"OH!" Fuuka gasped, "Junpei-kun, don't startle me like that. And thank you for the compliment."

"He wasn't complimenting you, he's hitting on you." Yukari said.

"Hey, come on Yuka-tan, do you have to say that every time I compliment a girl?"

"Well, your compliments to girls do tend to lead to hit-ons…"

"That they do." I chimed in.

"Gah, forget it, this subject isn't worth getting double-teamed over." Junpei sighed.

"So how did you do on your exams Junpei-kun?" Fuuka asked, which I could tell was an attempt to change the topic so Junpei wouldn't suffer anymore. On the contrary, however, this was the sole topic that Junpei had hoping to avoid for the entire evening. He told me so earlier while we were hooking up the karaoke machine to the TV.

"Ah…" Junpei said, his face going a little pale. "Gah, what's the point in trying to cover it up? I didn't do so fantastic… actually, my test scores really sucked… hahaha…"

"Oh… sorry to hear that, Junpei-kun. What about you, Yukari-san? Minato-kun?"

"Well, I got all A's except for this one exam that I had a really hard time on because I didn't study enough…" Yukari sighed. "But Aigis-san aced all of her exams except for two B's, and Minato-kun here managed to get the top score in our class… I'm proud of you." She continued, patting me on the back. "You didn't cheat, did you?"

"Of course not." I replied. "I just take good notes."

"Bribed the teachers?"

"I'd never do that and they'd never accept."

"Stole the answer key?"

"How could I?"

"Copied the answer key or bought it off of someone?"

"If I had done that, I would have been caught."

"Huh… I guess you really did beat me this time, fair and square. Good job, Minato-kun!"

"Thanks." I replied cheerfully. "When have I ever gotten a better exam score than you through cheating, though? And please don't give me that look, it sends shivers down my spine…"

"So what'd I miss?" Aigis said, who emerged from the kitchen with a cup of tea and a plate of brownies. "Oh, Junpei-san and Fuuka-san are here. Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas, Aigis-san!" Fuuka said, smiling. "Oh, that's a nice outfit Aigis-san! You look really good in it!"

"Ah… thank you, Fuuka-san." Aigis replied, blushing.

"Yeah, you look really cute Aigis!" Junpei said, popping up behind her. "And I admit, that was a half-compliment, half hit-on."

"Oh, come on Junpei-kun, stop it, you're making me blush."

"Yeah, Junpei, leave her alone." Yukari chimed in, shooting Junpei a look that made him back away very quickly. "We don't want you hitting on Aigis-san, now do we?"

"No ma'am!" Junpei said, still shaking from the look that Yukari had given him.

The doorbell chimed for the fourth time at about 5:57, and when Yukari answered it, Akihiko-senpai, Shinji-senpai and Mitsuru-senpai all walked in. "Yo!" Shinji said, waving at me and Fuuka. "Merry Christmas, you two."

"Welcome!" Yukari said to the three of them. "Make yourselves comfortable. Oh, do any of you want something to drink?"

"No thank you, Takeba-san." Mitsuru replied calmly. "Oh, Arisato-san. I heard you got the top score in your class on second semester finals. Congratulations."

"Thanks!" I said, nodding at Mitsuru.

"As your former tutor, it makes me proud to see one of my former pupils excel, so here, a small gift." She said, tossing me a small bag.

"Ooh, new headphones!" I said after I opened the bag. "And they look kind of expensive! Thanks, Mitsuru-senpai!"

"It's nothing. And for tonight, you may address me as just Mitsuru, it must get tiring saying senpai every time you address me."

"You promise not to beat me senseless?"

"I promise, I promise." Misturu said, laughing softly. "Only because it's Christmas and it's your and Takeba-san's party."

"Why would Mitsuru-san beat you for addressing her by her name only?" Aigis whispered to me.

"Oh, Mitsuru-senpai apparently had a super formal upbringing, so she was taught to address people with the proper honorifics. Because of that, she brutally punishes anyone who doesn't address her properly, unless she gives you permission, like she did just now."

"So what are you two whispering about?" Akihiko said, suddenly popping up behind me and Aigis. "You haven't sparred with me in a while, Minato-kun. Is it because you're dating her?"

Both of us blushed simultaneously, and we also both turned the same shade of red. "What?! Who said I'm dating Aigis?" I hollered at him.

"Y-yeah! What gave you that idea? I'm not dating Minato-kun, and why would I?"

"Ouch! You just got rejected!" Akihiko laughed.

"Ah! No, that's not what I meant, but… uh… well… I'm not dating Minato-kun, we just hang out together a lot…"

"Ah, come on Aki." Shinji said, putting a hand on Akihiko's shoulder. "You're teasing them too much."

"Meh, you're right Shinji." Akihiko sighed. :"I just get bored of training an inanimate object all the time. I want something that hits back, something that gives me a challenge."

"Then why don't you go to the back alley of Port Island station and pick a fight with some of the guys there?"

"Hey, I said I wanted to train on something that fights back, not something that'll probably kill me."

"Then why don't you spar with me?"

"You're usually too busy cooking. And besides, I have no chance of winning in a fight against you, you're too damn strong."

"Enough!" Mitsuru said in a commanding voice. "No more teasing, Akihiko. It's Christmas, so stop it now or you'll regret it."

"Y-yes Mitsuru." Akihiko replied, turning a little pale.

"Is it just me or is Mitsuru-san almost the same as Yukari-san..?" Aigis whispered to me again.

"Yeah… Yukari-chan wants to be as successful at Mitsuru-senpai, so she emulates a lot of aspects of Mitsuru-san."

"I see… so that's where Yukari-san got the idea for physical punishment…"

"Yep…"

"By the way, does Akihiko-san have Mitsuru-san's permission to address her without any honorifics..?"

"Actually, he does. Since the three of them hang out together so much, they don't feel the need to attach anything when they address each other."

"Ah… I see…"

Since everyone had arrived, the party was able to officially begin. As Junpei had predicted, the first two and a half hours were spent with everyone talking to each other, eating the various snacks that we had prepared, and drinking soda and various other beverages. Finally, at 8:40, Yukari decided to serve the Christmas cake, which I was forced to cut and help serve.

"Okay! Time to hand out the gifts!" Yukari announced when everyone had finished their Christmas cake about half an hour later. "Okay, let's see… well, first up is Junpei…"

"Woo! Wonder what I got…" Junpei said as Yukari handed him his gift. As he unwrapped it, however, his face got a weird look. "Uh… what's this..?" he asked, holding up a medium-sized book that was his apparent present.

"Let's see… 'The Moron's Guide to Making Studying Relatively Less Painful'..." I said, reading the cover.

"Well, it's... definitely being realistic…" Akihiko said, trying to contain his laughter.

"…This gift has Yuka-tan written all over it…" Junpei groaned.

"Yeah, it was my misfortune to draw your name from the hat." Yukari sighed. "But at least it made getting your gift that much easier. By the way, I flipped through the book before I wrapped it, and it has some good advice in it, so your grades better go up… or else…" Yukari finished, shooting my poor friend a dangerous look. "Okay, the next gift in the pile is for… Fuuka-chan!"

"Oh! It's a cookbook!" Fuuka exclaimed when she finished unwrapping the gift. "'1000 Easy Recipes From Around the World'! Thank you, Shinji-senpai!" she said, clearly delighted with her present.

"What!? How'd you figure out it was me?" Shinjiro asked.

"Well, there's a semi-faded flour handprint on the back… that kind of tipped me off…"

"Oh…" Shinji murmured, scratching the back of his head. "Alright, well, make good use of it, okay, Fuuka?"

"I will! Thank you very much!" Fuuka said, bowing.

"… supposed to be a SECRET Santa… ugh, whatever…" I heard Yukari mutter under her breath. "Okay! Next gift! For… Minato-kun! Here, catch." Yukari said, tossing me a small box.

I unwrapped my gift, and to my surprise, it was a brand new MP3 player, just what I had been kind of wanting for the past month and a half. "Ooh! A new MP3 player! And it looks like it's really good quality... and the memory is double of the one that I have now! "Hey, wait… why's it unsealed?" I said, taking the MP3 player out of the box to inspect it. "_Hmm… screen isn't cracked, no apparent defects, battery is fully charged like it's supposed to be… so then why is it unsealed?"_ I thought to myself. Fortunately, the answer came to me immediately after I flipped through the files on the MP3. "Huh… it has all of my songs on it already…"

"So… uh… do you like it?" Aigis asked me nervously.

"Ai-chan? This is from you?"

"Ah… uh… yes… I borrowed your MP3 so that I could get all of your songs… do you like my gift?"

"Do I like it? Heck, I love it! Thanks, Ai-chan!" I said, hugging my blushing friend. A split second later, however, I realized just what I was doing, and quickly released Aigis from my arms. "Oh, I… uh… sorry." I quickly apologized. I heard a few snickers from behind me, and made a mental note to take vengeance on Junpei and Akihko later.

"I-it's okay." Aigis stammered, her face now a much deeper shade of crimson. "I'm glad you're happy with my gift, Minato-kun."

"Well then, moving on." Yukari continued. "The next gift goes to… Shinjiro-senpai! …Damn, this thing is a little heavy!" Yukari said, lifting Shinji's gift with some difficulty.

"Here, let me take that." Shinji said, taking the box from Yukari. "Ooh… a 14-piece Kitchen Knife set! I can use this!" he said, opening the box and pulling one of the knives out. "Hmm… stainless steel, sharp blade, the knife looks sturdy… Fuuka-san! Were you the one who got me this?"

"Ah, no. Sorry Shinji-senpai, that's not my gift." Fuuka replied quickly.

"Hmm… then who…?"

"That's from me!" Akihiko said, grinning. "You like it?"

"Hell yeah!" Shinji shouted. "You rock, Aki!"

"The next gift is for… Akihiko-senpai! Here you go! Another one that's a little heavy…" she said, handing Akihiko his gift.

"Thanks." Akihiko said as he unwrapped his gift. "Huh… wrist weights, ankle weights and a new pair of boxing gloves… well, someone already got Shinji's gift, so… Minato-kun! This is from you! Right!?" he shouted, pointing at me Phoenix Wright style.

"Yep, guilty as charged, Mr. Wright. I figured the weights would help you with your training, and I remembered that your gloves were starting to get worn down the last time we sparred before exams, so I figured you could use a replacement." I said, grinning.

"Well, you were right; my boxing gloves finally fell apart yesterday. Just what I needed! Thanks dude! By the way, why'd you call me Mr. Wright?"

"Cuz when you pointed at me like that it reminded me of Phoenix Wright."

"Oh, okay."

"Moving on…" Yukari continued, "The next gift is for… hey it's for me!" Yukari said, tearing off the wrapping for her gift. "Oh my god. A new purse!" Yukari squealed, more than clearly delighted with her gift. "Mitsuru-senpai, this was from you, wasn't it?"

"Good guess, Takeba-san." Mitsuru said, smiling softly. "How did you figure it out?"

"It looks expensive."

"Of course." Mitsuru said, chuckling to herself. "I don't buy my friends cheap gifts of inferior quality. I save that for when I have to buy gifts for my competitors."

"Well, thank you for the gift Senpai!" Yukari said, hugging her new purse so hard she looked like she was going to crush it. "Okay, next gift goes to… Aigis, here you go." Yukari said, handing Aigis a long rectangular box.

"What's this?" Aigis asked, pulling what looked like a poster out of the box. "Oh, a Haruhi poster. My favorite anime!" Aigis paused for a second. "Hmm… Minato-kun's present was for Akihiko-senpai, so… Junpei-san, was this from you?"

"Yeah." Junpei replied, "I heard from Minato that you like watching Haruhi and that you don't have too much personal stuff in your room, so I figured, why not get you something to put up?"

"Thank you, Junpei-san." Aigis said, smiling at him.

"Yeah, Junpei. An anime poster? If Aigis-san wasn't happy with it I would have beat what little brains you have out of your skull. Seriously! An anime poster!? You couldn't have thought of anything better!? And more importantly," Yukari continued, turning to me, "you were in her room!? You failed to mention that when you said you went over to her house…"

"Must have slipped my mind…" I said as innocently as I could.

"Hmph. I'll deal with you later." Yukari said, picking up the last gift. "Finally! The last gift is for Mitsuru-senpai." Yukari finished, handing Mitsuru a medium-sized box.

"Oh? What's this?" Mitsuru said when she finished unwrapping the gift. "Scented candles?"

"Ah, yes. That's from me." Fuuka said shyly. "Yukari-chan told me that you like floral-scented items, so I figured that a set of assorted floral scented candles would be an acceptable gift. And don't worry about the quality, the company that made the set makes really good quality scented candles. I hope you like it."

"I love it, thank you Yamagishi-san." Mitsuru said, smiling sincerely. "I think I'll use one when I get home…"

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

"Okay then!" Yukari said, clapping her hands together. "That's it for the gift exchange. Now, since Junpei's been bugging me for almost the entire party, it's time for Karaoke!"

"Woo!" Junpei cheered.

"Minato-kun, what's karaoke..?" Aigis asked me quietly.

"Well, it's basically where you have the lyrics to a song on a TV screen, and you sing as the lyrics prompt you while the music plays."

"So it's basically a sing-along with a lot more songs and with the lyrics given to you..?"

"Pretty much."

"I see… it doesn't sound too hard."

"Most of the difficulty that comes with karaoke is how nervous you get before you start singing."

"Oh… I see…"

Since no one seemed to mind the idea of karaoke, Yukari started organizing the order of how we would sing.

"Aw, come on Yuka-tan. Does everything have to be all organized and orderly? Can't we just volunteer people to sing like we're supposed to?"

"Fine." Yukari groaned. "Since you lugged this thing all the way over here by yourself, why not, let's do this with your rules."

"Sweet!" Junpei said, pumping his fist in the air.

"But remember what I said earlier…" Yukari said with a certain evil sparkle in her eye.

"Ah, right, no riot, tear my arm off, got it." Junpei said nervously. "Well, since this was my idea, I'll go first! How's everyone's English?" Junpei asked. (Please note that this game is supposed to take place in Japan, so normally they'd be talking in Japanese, but then again, what's the point of publishing a fanfic in Japanese when I live in America?)

Okay, good and really good were the responses from our little group, so Junpei started off by singing "Jingle Bell Rock", which was a bit of a failure for him since his English speaking skills had more than rusted over a long time ago.

Afterwards, after Junpei purposely embarrassed himself (I hoped), everyone wasn't as nervous about going up to sing anymore, so when Junpei dragged Akihiko to the microphone, he didn't resist too much. Akihiko wound up dragging Shinjiro into the mess, and together they sung a decent "Santa Clause is Coming to Town", which was by far a much greater success that Junpei's previous attempt.

After Shinji and Akihiko finished, Fuuka decided to go next, and since she wanted to sing a Japanese song, wound up singing Gatsu no Love Song, which, despite that it was originally sung by a man, she figured "Why not give it a shot?" So, she held the microphone up, and sang…

_Gatsu no Love Song by Gackt _(sorry I don't have a translation for this, Youtube it.)

itsuno ma ni ka machi no naka ni juuni-gatsu no  
awatadashisa ga afure  
chiisana te o furinagara taisetsu na hito no namae o  
yobu

koibito-tachi no yasashisa ni tsutsumarete kono  
machi ni mo sukoshi hayai fuyu ga otozureru

taisetsu na hito dakara zutto kawaranai de  
waratteite  
daisuki na hito dakara zutto kimi dake o  
dakishimete...

Show-window o mitsumenagara kata o yoseau  
futari ga toorisugiru  
kimi no koto o machinagara shiroi toiki ni omoi o  
noseru

miageta sora ni konayuki ga maioriteitazura ni futari  
no kyori o sotto chikazukeru

shizuka na yoru ni mimimoto de sasayaita  
ano kotoba o mou ichido sotto tsubuyaita

taisetsu na hito dakara zutto kawaranai de  
waratteite  
daisuki na hito dakara zutto kimi dake o  
dakishimete...

itsumade mo dakishimete...

kimi dake o dakishimete...

"Hey, that was pretty good Fuuka-chan!" Yukari said as Fuuka put down the microphone.

"Oh, no, I kind of cheated, didn't I? I mean, Junpei-kun and Akihiko-senpai and Shinji-senpai went through all the trouble of singing English songs…"

"Aw, that's all right. You can sing whatever you want, you're not obligated to sing in English." Yukari reassured her. "Okay, um… Mitsuru-senpai, would you like to go next?"

"Very well." Mitsuru said, walking up to the mic. "Behold my mastery of the English Language!" she said, as she began to sing "Jingle Bells" in English. What made it all the more amazing was that she did it without the slightest hint of an accent, as if English were her main language.

"How did that end up in Junpei-san's karaoke machine?" Aigis asked me as the song began.

"Beats me…" I said, shrugging my shoulders.

"Phew… that was… fun." Mitsuru said after she finished the song a few minutes later. "Hmm… Arisato-san. Why don't you come up and sing?"

"Fine, fine." I said as I got up from my seat. "Let's see… 'White Song' by Hyde… that works…" I said, picking the song. The music began playing, and shortly after, I started to sing.

_White Song by Hyde_

Breath  
Crisp and cleaning the winter air  
I dream of a world in a peaceful sleep  
Snow falling gracefully down  
Rejoice in winter's deep charm  
I can't wait  
I can't wait

Freeze  
People gather around the fire  
I feel all the warmth that the cold inspire  
Frost covered tree tops are bright  
Shimmering silver tonight  
I can't wait  
I can't wait

I hope snow will fall upon as soon  
Everywhere  
The whole world veiled in white  
I'd be reset to face the seasons  
Once again

Yes on and on falls the snow  
Like diamonds from the sky

Our broken hearts-paint them white  
Lead us into a wonderland  
Pure as the snow-virgin white  
A new beginning

And i hope snow will fall upon as soon  
Everywhere  
The whole world veiled in white  
I'd be reset to face the seasons  
Once again

"Wow, Minato-kun. That was really good!" Aigis said when I finished. "Where did you learn to sing like that?"

"I didn't learn to sing like that, it just comes naturally." I said, grinning at her. "Well then, Yukari-chan, want to take your turn now or after Ai-chan?"

"I think I'll go now…" Yukari said, reaching for the microphone. "Hmm…" she murmured as she looked through the song list. "What the… 'Love Hina- Winter Wish'? Why the heck do you have this in your karaoke machine, Junpei!?" she said, shooting him a weird look.

"Well, I figured I'd put Christmas-related songs in the damn thing, so I figured 'Why not?' And by the way, how do you know that this song even exists?"

"Gah. Well… uh… that's not important. Fine…" Yukari sighed. "Let's do this…"

_Love Hina- Winter Wish (Christmas Special Song; __sung by Yonekura Chihiro__)_

Chiisana shiawase o daiji ni atatameteta  
nee, omou to mune no oku konna ni itaku naru no

anata no me anata no koe subete itoshikute...

konayuki ga hoho ni maiori namida ni kawatta  
itsu made mo soba ni ite kono te o hanasanai de  
fuyu no sora kirameku hoshi wa futari o tsutsunda  
shiroi kata shiroi iki anata to kanjiteru WINTER WISH

yorisoi aruita umizoi no yuuenchi  
nee, kanransha ni notte hikari no machi miyou yo

tooku naru umi to awai kiss ga setsunakute...

hajimari wa konayuki no ifu chiisana sutori  
dare yori mo aishiteru kono te o hanasanai de  
arukidasu futari no mirai naranda ashiato  
nukumori mo yasashisa mo anata to dakishimeru WINTER WISH

konayuki ga hoho ni maiori namida ni kawatta  
itsu made mo soba ni ite kono te o hanasanai de  
fuyu no sora kirameku hoshi wa futari o tsutsunda  
shiroi kata shiroi iki anata to kanjiteru WINTER WISH

"Wow… that was really good…" I said when Yukari finally finished. I could tell by the looks on everyone else's faces that they agreed with me.

"Of course. What did you expect?" Yukari said triumphantly. "Now, let's hear Aigis sing."

"Oh no, please, I can't…" Aigis said, blushing as she tried to weasel out of it. "I- I don't know if I can sing too well…"

"Well, there's only one way to find out, let's go!" Yukari said, grabbing Aigis by the shoulders and pushing her to the microphone. "Now, since you seem so nervous, let's try a Japanese song… oh! Here's one that seems to be pretty easy, and it's not too long."

"Hmm… 'Toradora!- Holy Night'…" Aigis said, reading the title off of the TV screen. "Well… okay, I guess I can try…" she said, clearing her throat.

"Do your best Ai-chan!" I cheered.

"Thanks…" she said, blushing. "Okay… here goes…" she said as the music began.

_Toradora!- Holy Night (sung by Kugimiya Rie and Kitamura Eri)_

_saa CHRISTMAS__  
__ippai no egao__  
__kimi ni todoketa PARTY NIGHT_

_saa CHRISTMAS__  
__ippai no negai__  
__kimi ni chikaunda__  
__HOLY HOLY NIGHT_

_kotoshi no CHRISTMAS chotto tokubetsu sa__  
__WHITE CHRISTMAS ja nakudatte__  
__hoshikuzu no ILLUMINATION__  
__hora furitsumoruyo_

_kirakira kagayaite__  
__minna ga shiawase de__  
__chickachicka matataite__  
__minna ga yume wo mite_

_saa CHRISTMAS__  
__ippai no egao__  
__kimi ni todoketa PARTY NIGHT_

_saa CHRISTMAS__  
__ippai no negai__  
__kimi ni chikaunda__  
__HOLY HOLY NIGHT_

"Woah…" was all I could manage to say. Sure, Aigis had made a few mistakes, but… wow… her singing voice was really good for someone who had been in a coma for the past fourteen years. And not only that, she looked really good while she was singing. As I looked around, I could see the shock that I felt was clearly displayed on everyone else's faces too.

"D- did I sing well?" Aigis asked nervously.

"Did you sing well..?" I repeated. "That was… amazing…"

Aigis blushed at my comment. "Really..?"

"Yeah, you did great!" Yukari said, who was the second one to recover from the shock of how well Aigis sang. "You have a great voice! Why were you so nervous?"

"I- I've never sung with a karaoke machine before… I was nervous…"

"Never went to a karaoke bar before… huh, that's strange, but whatever…" Yukari sighed.

After the karaoke session ended, everyone slowly trickled out of the house to go home, until we were left at 10:53 p.m. with everyone gone except for Aigis. "Well, that was fun." Yukari said, stretching. "Minato-kun, since almost everyone's gone, why don't we start cleaning?"

"Oh, can I help?" Aigis said, "It wouldn't be too much trouble for me."

"Are you sure? We wouldn't want to bother you…" Yukari said, clearly concerned that she would be inconveniencing our friend.

"It's all right Yukari-san. I want to help."

"Okay…" Yukari sighed. "Minato-kun, go help Aigis-san collect all the empty bottles and paper cups. I'm going to go get the trays and then we can start taking down the streamers…"

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

"Phew. Finally done." I said, wiping my brow. It had taken us about twenty-five minutes to get everything cleaned up, not surprising because most of our guests had been courteous enough to clean after themselves, but also because we had Aigis' help.

"That wasn't so bad…" Yukari said, placing the last garbage bag beside the door. "Take these out to the roadside tomorrow so the trash collectors can pick it up, okay Minato-kun?"

"Alright." I said.

"Well then, I better get going…" Aigis said, walking over to the coat rack and putting her jacket and scarf on. "I'll see you both tomorrow, then…"

"Hey, let Minato-kun walk you home." Yukari said before Aigis opened the door. "You could get run over, or robbed, or mugged, or kidnapped, or-"

"I get it, I get it." I said, getting up before Yukari could continue. However, this was all part of the scheme that Yukari and I had planned together. I had told Yukari about my gift and how I wanted to give it to Aigis in private, so she agreed to help set me up so that I could give Aigis my gift like I wanted to.

"Oh, okay then…" Aigis said. "Let's go, Minato-kun…"

After I put my jacket on, I opened the door for my blonde-haired friend and together we began the relatively silent trek to her home.

"Sorry about this…" Aigis said after a few minutes.

"Nah, it's all right, I asked Yukari to "make" me walk you home."

"What..? Why would you do that?" Aigis said, giving me a curious look.

"So that I could give you this…" I said, pulling a small box covered in red gift wrapping out of my coat pocket.

"Oh… Minato-kun…" Aigis murmured, blushing. "You shouldn't have…"

"Nah, I wanted to get you a gift…" I said, scratching the back of my head. "I was hoping to draw your name for the Secret Santa, but since I didn't I figured I'd get you a gift anyways… Here, here. Open it." I finished, handing her the box.

Aigis slowly fumbled with the gift, removing the red gift wrap that covered it. Then, after taking a deep breath, she opened the box inside, and then gasped shortly after.

"Oh… it's beautiful…" Aigis said, lifting a silver locket out of the box. "An amulet… I love it…"

"No, no, no. It's a locket, not an amulet, see?" I said, showing her the clasp on the right side of the locket. "Open it. There's a picture inside."

Carefully, Aigis opened up the locket and looked inside it. A second gasp escaped her lips, followed by her face turning the darkest shade of red I had ever seen. "This is… this is one of the photo stickers we took… so that's why…"

"Yep." I said, grinning at her. "It's not real silver by the way, but it looks real enough… so do you like it?"

"Are you kidding? Do you realize how close this gift is to being a romantic confession? I wonder what my dad would do if I showed him this…"

"_Epic fail." _I thought to myself. "_And she's going to show it to her dad… oh well, I've had a good life…"_

My thoughts of my impending doom were interrupted when Aigis suddenly did something that I completely, totally and utterly did not see coming: she walked up to me, moved my arms from my sides, and gave me one of the biggest hugs I had ever gotten.

"Wha..?" was all that I could say. Yes, I was THAT shocked.

"Minato-kun, I was just kidding. I love your gift… I… I've never gotten such a great gift before… I've never celebrated Christmas before, but you and Yukari-san made my first Christmas so… wonderful… I was so nervous, going to your party… I didn't know how to act, what to do, what to say, whether or not I was intruding… but you and Yukari-san wholeheartedly accepted me into your home… and your friends were so kind to me… and when I went up to sing, everyone was so supportive… I don't know why I'm saying all this, I just feel so… so happy… and I want to thank you…"

If I wasn't already blushing from when Aigis hugged me, I was definitely blushing after what she said. "Aw, come on… you're getting all mushy on me… and besides, I kind of wanted to make your first Christmas as joyful as I could, you know? I'm your friend, it makes me happy to see you happy… that's what friends do…" I finished, looking down at her.

"I'm glad I have you as a friend, Minato-kun…" Aigis whispered to me.

"Aw, stop it, you're making me blush…" I said, hugging Aigis back. _"Ah, she's so soft, and she smells nice too… GAH! EVIL THOUGHTS! BAD ME! BAD!"_ I thought, slapping myself mentally.

"…"

"…"

"… So we're still just friends, right?"

"Of course."

"Nothing too intimate between us? Just regular, friendly affection?"

"Yep."

"Your gift it just a simple gesture of showing how you want to keep me as a friend?"

"Absolutely."

"Good." Aigis said, as we released each other from our hug. "I don't want my dad to have to kill you just yet."

"You weren't really going to sic him on me, were you?" I asked, laughing.

"No, of course not. Though you do realize how close this is to saying "I like you," right?"

"It was a risk worth taking, I knew you'd like it."

"You're so sweet." Aigis said, blushing. "Come on, let's go before we get frostbite."

"Hey, wait. Why don't you put the locket on first?"

"I already did."

"Oh… so does it fit? I had to guess the length of the chain, so… yeah…"

"It fits, Minato-kun." Aigis said, turning to smile at me. "Quite snugly, might I add."

"Oh, that's a relief." I said, sighing.

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We continued our little conversation until we reached Aigis' house a little while later, which, to my surprise, had quite a few Christmas lights of assorted colors hanging from the roof.

"My parents really enjoy Christmas."

"Yeah, your house is really bright and all that."

"Do you want to come in? I can serve you some tea or hot chocolate if you want…"

"Nah, I better go. It's pretty late already, and Yukari's probably gonna kill me for being out so late…"

"Oh, okay then. I'll be sure to attend your funeral." Aigis said as we arrived at her front door.

"Yes, please do." I laughed. "All right, well… good night then…"

"Ah… Minato-kun..?"

"Hmm?"

Aigis blushed, like she was about to say something embarrassing. "Thanks again for the locket… and… uhm…" Aigis murmured, struggling with what she was trying to say. "C-can I hug you… one last time?"

My friend's request caught me off guard. "Uh… sure… It's gonna be a bit hard to stay just friends if you keep hugging me like this though…"

"It's only a good night hug! Sheesh!" Aigis huffed.

"Only couples do that."

"Well I'm doing it as a friend." Aigis said, hugging me for a second time as she forcefully ended our little argument.

I sighed as I wrapped my arms around my friend again. "So you have no feelings for me, huh? You sure you don't like me?"

"… Maybe a little… I don't know, maybe I'm still super happy about my first Christmas… but I do like hanging out with you, Minato-kun… it's always so much fun…"

"Well, well… what do we have here?" a loud voice said from behind us.

"_Crap. Goodbye, cruel world."_ I thought, recognizing the voice immediately.

Keisuke Yamada was standing in the doorway with a strange expression on his face that I found to be a mix of surprise, annoyance, and a little anger. "Well then… do you know what time it is, son?"

"_Time for me to die?"_ I thought out of fright as I released Aigis. Unfortunately, I was frozen stiff with fear and couldn't respond.

"It's time for you… to meet my wife." He said, pulling me into the house by my wrist.

"Huh? You're not mad?" I said after I had snapped out of my fear-induced stupor.

"Nah, of course not!" the large man laughed. "I wouldn't think my daughter was normal unless she had a few "social interactions" every now and again. And besides, at least she's hugging you instead of some stranger." Keisuke laughed. "And I heard what she said; it was just a friendly hug, so I don't mind it too much."

"Oh, okay then…" I said, breathing a sigh of relief. _"So my life has been spared for today…"_ I thought.

"Ah, here she is. Yui! Come meet the boy our Ai-Ai's always talking about."

Keisuke dragged me over to a woman with a slim figure and long brown hair and that went down to her elbows, who was currently reading a novel that was similar to the one I had seen Yukari reading earlier. As she turned to look at me, she had a serious look on her face that clearly said "Mess with me. I DARE you."

"Hmm…" the woman said, eyeing me closely through the lenses her glasses.

I quivered in silence as she inspected me from every angle. Finally after about three minutes, she stopped in front of me.

"I approve." She said suddenly, giving Aigis a thumbs-up. "You can continue dating this boy."

"But we're not dating!" Aigis shouted, clearly embarrassed.

"Oh, okay then, I apologize for jumping to conclusions." The brown-haired woman sighed, turning to me. "I'm Yamada Yui, it's a pleasure to meet the young man that my daughter seems to be so fond of." She said, the serious and deadly look on her face suddenly turning bright and cheerful.

"Oh, uh… it's nice to meet you ma'am." I stuttered, still nervous from earlier.

"Ah… ma'am… I haven't been addressed that politely in ages… you've certainly gotten yourself quite a catch, Aigis." Yui sighed. "Ah, I know that look. Well, I'm usually bright and cheerful like this, but at work I have to be all serious and dangerous so that no one tries to pull anything funny with me… not that I have much to worry, considering that I have my big, strong husband to take care of any problems I might have." She said, laughing.

"So, how come you're home so late?" Aigis' dad asked suddenly.

"Oh, I stayed to help Minato-kun and Yukari-san clean up after everyone else left."

"Did you volunteer or did they make you stay?" Keisuke said, eyeing me suspiciously.

"Oh, I volunteered of course! Minato-kun and Yukari-san would never force me to stay and help."

"See? We've raised our daughter well!" Keisuke said, beaming at his wife. "Such a helpful young lady… oh, but they were hugging too, although it was a "friendly" hug…"

"Oh, really?" Mrs. Yamada said, giving me a strange look that for some reason looked like admiration or approval. "You two sure are close, Aigis… Are you sure you aren't dating him?"

"I'm not! We're not dating!" Aigis huffed.

"I'm just kidding, darling." Yui said, giggling.

"Well… I'd love to stay, but I need to get back home… I wish you all a Merry Christmas…" I said, bowing to Aigis' parents.

"Oh, of course. We better let you go, it's already midnight." Aigis' mom said. "Aigis, why don't you show your boyfriend to the door? Kiss him good night, while you're at it."

"Okay." Aigis said, getting up. "Hey, wait… Minato-kun's not my boyfriend!"

"What? He's a boy, and he's your friend, so that makes him your boyfriend!" Yui said, snickering.

"Meh…" Aigis said, apparently not wanting to deal with her mother's teasing.

"Seriously, do you not like me that much?" I said as we got to Aigis' front door.

"Minato-kun, not you too…" my blonde haired friend groaned. "I don't want to deal with this right now…"

"Aw, come on. Lighten up, we're just kidding…" I said, patting my distressed friend on the shoulder.

"…I don't like it when you joke about us being in that kind of relationship…"

I was a little surprised when she said this. "What… so you like me?"

"No!" Aigis said, almost immediately. "I- I like you… but not like that… not like a boyfriend… I think… I'm not sure… ah… I'm so confused…"

I didn't know what to say, so I just acted on instinct. Unfortunately, instinct told my body to hug my friend, which was definitely comforting, but might give the wrong impression. "_Crap. Please don't let her get the wrong idea…"_

We stood there in silence for a few minutes until Aigis decided to ask me a question that REALLY caught me off guard. "What about you, Minato-kun..? Do… do you like me like that..?"

If I wasn't thinking straight before she asked me that, her question completely derailed my train of thought and made it take a full-force collision into a hypothetical mountainside.

"…"

"…"

"… Minato… kun? Was I wrong to ask that?"

"Nah…" I said, releasing Aigis from my hold. "I… honestly don't know the answer to that right now… I mean, I like hanging out with you and all that but… do I like you? I… don't know…"

"Then why are we asking each other that question right now? Why risk butchering our friendship over a suggestion..?"

"I don't know… but I guess you're right, we really shouldn't lose any sleep over something like this… it's definitely food for thought…"

Aigis' questioning look indicated that she had no idea what I had just said. "It basically means that it's definitely worth thinking about every now and again…"

"Oh, I see…"

"Wow… this really took a turn for the embarrassing…" I said, as we both laughed nervously. "Look, can we just go back to before this boyfriend-girlfriend thing came up? This is really making my head hurt right now…"

"I agree… this is a delicate subject, we should think about it, but I want to keep our friendship the way it is until we've thought things through…" Aigis said, nodding.

"All right then! I'll see you on New Year's, don't forget that you and I are going to Naganaki Shrine so that I can show you all the New Years' traditions and how they work." I said, opening the door so I could exit. "Don't you dare forget! I'll call you on your cell to remind you, okay? And don't worry, we're just going as regular friends."

"All right." Aigis said, smiling as she held the door open for me. "Merry Christmas, Minato-kun…"

"Merry Christmas, Ai-chan… good night."

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"Where the hell have you been!?" Yukari said the moment I got in the door. "I've been worried sick, and-" Yukari stopped when she saw the strange look on my face. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"Oh, uh, nothing." I said, trying to get past her.

"Oh no you don't." Yukari said, lunging at me and pinning me to the wall. "I've known you my entire life, and I know when something's up. So spill it."

Yukari had applied her "Death Grip" when she pinned me to the wall, so I knew I wasn't getting out until I gave Yukari an answer. "Fine…" I groaned. "I'm having a little bit of trouble with-"

"Don't say it." Yukari cut in. "You got confessed to by Aigis and you don't know if you feel the same way?"

"Close, but not quite…"

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"So neither of you are sure whether or not you have feelings for each other..?" Yukari said after I finished explaining what had happened. "Wow… and you would have never thought of that if she hadn't hugged you?"

"Of course not, but what else could she have done?"

"A simple thank you would have been enough."

"Not the way she was looking at me… she looked like my gift really meant a lot to her… I could feel her gratitude as she hugged me, but I'm not sure if there was more behind it…"

"I see… Well, I'd love to give you some advice on this, but I really don't know anything that can really help. You've got yourself in one hell of a fix, Minato-kun…" Yukari sighed. "Oh, and here, a small Christmas gift." She said, handing me a small box. "Hope you like it."

"Huh… a new watch…" I said, opening Yukari's gift. It was a sturdy-looking analog watch made of what appeared to be titanium or something like that. "Thanks, Yukari-chan. It looks really nice. I love it."

"Oh, it's nothing…" Yukari sighed. "So, what did you get me? Or did you forget?"

"Of course I remembered, my skull isn't that thick." I said, running over to my bedroom to get Yukari's gift. "Here." I said, handing her a small bag.

"Minato-kun! These… these are the earrings I've wanted for the past four months!" Yukari said, holding my gift in her hands. "They were horrendously expensive! How the hell did you afford it!?"

"Before you say it, no, I didn't shoplift." I said, grinning. "I knew they were expensive, so I saved up for them. Left one heck of a hole in my wallet though…"

"But… why..?"

"I figured I might as well give you a nice gift since it's Christmas and all that… so yeah, I was happy to do it…"

"Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!" Yukari said, hugging me. "You rock!"

"Nah, it was nothing, I'm just glad you're happy."

"You are way too nice, you know that?" Yukari said, releasing me from her hold.

"Of course, but that's not necessarily a bad thing, now is it? Well, I better get some shuteye, I'm really, really tired…"

"Oh, right. Well, good night then, Minato-kun."

"Night."

"… And hey… don't try too hard to find if you like Aigis-san or not. When the time is right, the answer will come to you."

"Oh! The wise and powerful Yukari-sama is giving me advice! I better grab my notebook!"

"Oh, you!" Yukari said, punching my arm lightly.

"It's really good advice though, thanks…"

"No problem, just get a good night's rest, will you?"

"Sure… I'll try…"

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"_What a night…_" I though as I plopped down onto my bed. "_I kind of don't want to think about it right now, but I also kind of want to…"_ I shook my head. _"What am I doing!? Should it really matter to me whether or not Ai-chan likes me or not!? …Well, it should but… GAAAAAH!!!"_ I yelled in my head, holding my head in confusion. _"What the heck do I do!? I can't think straight…"_

I shook my head again. _"Screw this… I'm going to sleep… I'll think about it in the morning…"_

With that, I closed my eyes, and after a few minutes of trying to keep my mind blank, my fatigue from the day's activities set in, and I fell asleep.

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WHAT A DEVELOPMENT! Did Minato's gift to Aigis really mean nothing!? Does Aigis like Minato? And does Minato like Aigis back!? And what does Yukari really have to say about this whole mess!? Will I ever stop rambling like this!? Well, the last question I can answer now, and my answer is NO! WAHAHAHA! . . Stay tuned, for Chapter 5 of "Let Me be With You", COMING SOON (Hopefully by next week.)

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Phew… that… was… undoubtedly the looooongest chapter I have ever, ever written… dear God, my hands are tired from typing… Anyways, thank you all for reading, be sure to review and please, positive input and constructive criticisms are always welcomed and appreciated. I will update by next week, but add this story to your Story Alerts just in case I run into some extra free time. Or if my free time dries up. Till next time!

By the way, on a side note, when Minato calls Akihiko "Mr. Wright" when Akihiko gets his gift, it's a reference to the "Phoenix Wright" series and the way that Phoenix points when he makes an objection.

Lastly, I hate to bother you all again, but please, tell your friends who might be interested in this fanfic about it. They don't need to know too much about Persona 3, just as long as they appreciate a decent romance/comedy fanfic.

Oh, and for anyone who really cares, here are the English lyrics for Holy Night and Winter Wish…

_Holy Night (English Lyrics)_

_Now it's Christmas!__**  
**__There are smiles everywhere__**  
**__Here's a party night from me to you_

_Now it's Christmas!__**  
**__Everyone is making their wish__**  
**__I promise you…__**  
**__… A HOLY, HOLY NIGHT!_

_This year's Christmas is a bit special__**  
**__Even though it's not a white Christmas__**  
**__The illumination of the stardust__**  
**__Look, it's falling and piling_

_It's glittering and shining__**  
**__And everyone is happy__**  
**__Flickering, and in a blink__**  
**__Everyone's having a dream_

_Now it's Christmas__**  
**__There are smiles everywhere__**  
**__Here's a party night from me to you_

_Now it's Christmas__**  
**__Everyone is making their wish__**  
**__I promise you…__**  
**__… A HOLY, HOLY NIGHT_

_Love Hina- Winter Wish (English Lyrics)_

I carefully kept this small happiness warm

Hey, when I think about it, my heart starts to ache so much

Everything about you- your eyes, your voice- is precious to me

The snow that fell on my face became tears

Stay by me forever, don't let go of my hand

The stars that shine in the winter sky wrap around both of us

White shoulders, white breath... the winter wish I'm feeling with you

We walked close together at the oceanside amusement park

Hey, let's ride on the Ferris wheel and look at the city of lights

The faraway ocean and your fleeting kiss are painful

The beginning of a story on a snowy eve

I love you more than anyone, don't let go of my hand

We walk side by side, our footprints leading towards the future

Warmth and kindness... the winter wish I embrace with you

The snow that fell on my face became tears

Stay by me forever, don't let go of my hand

The stars that shine in the winter sky wrap around both of us

White shoulders, white breath... the winter wish I'm feeling with you


	5. So Do you have an Answer?

Greetings, one and all! Welcome to the exciting 5th Chapter of "Let Me be with You" and sorry for the late update! I hope you enjoy it, so I will save my ramblings for later. Please, read and review, and all constructive criticisms will be greatly appreciated! Also, please bear with me, as I have… very little experience with real-life romance, so unfortunately the upcoming scenes may have content that you have seen on TV or in an anime. If this is the case, I apologize.

*IMPORTANT NOTICE* My schedule has unfortunately gotten a lot more hectic, so for now I can only update every ten to fourteen days. Hopefully I can find more free time in the future, so sorry -_-'.

**Let Me be with You**

**Chapter 5: So, Do You Have an Answer..?**

"So, have you thought about it?" Yukari asked while we were eating breakfast on New Years' Day.

"It?"

"You know… your little problem…"

"Oh. Uh… a little bit…" I said, looking away.

"Minato-kun…" Yukari began, giving me one of her looks.

"I really can't hide anything from you, can I?" I sighed. "It's been bugging me for the past five days. No matter how hard I try not to, it just keeps popping back into my head!" I groaned.

"So you're trying to avoid it?"

"No, but I-"

"Poor, foolish Minato-kun." Yukari sighed, putting down her cup of milk. "You're not going to solve your problem if you keep running away from it. Besides, what if Aigis-san already found her answer? She'll be really disappointed if she finds out she was the only one thinking about it…"

"I am thinking about it." I protested. "I… just don't know…"

"You don't know or you don't want to try?"

"I'm trying to find an answer!" I said, almost shouting. "I… I'm really freakin' confused right now… I mean, Ai-chan is cute, and caring, and sweet, and I think she's a great person, but… I don't know… I don't want to convince myself that I like her and then she figures that she doesn't like me more than just a friend… I don't want to risk ruining our friendship like that…"

"And like I said, take your time finding your answer." Yukari said, putting her hand on my shoulder as she picked up my now empty plate. "If you rush it, you're probably going to make a bad decision. When the time comes, you'll know your answer. But right now, I think Aigis-san would be happy knowing that you haven't been avoiding the question… and besides, the way you two act around each other, I'm surprised you actually think she doesn't like you."

"What are you talking about?" I said with a questioning look on my face.

"I mean come on, you two are almost always making each other blush, you joke around way too much, Aigis-san blushes when she comes into even the slightest contact with you, and you spend a heck of a lot of time together. If you seriously don't like each other, you two have some serious problems." Yukari said as she began to wash the dishes.

"I guess you're right…"

"I can't say that I'm 100% sure that she likes you, but the odds are definitely stacked in your favor…" Yukari said, flicking water at me playfully. "Just hope for the best, but be ready for the worst."

"Wow, you've really gotten into that philosophy book you're reading, huh?" I said, grinning at her.

"Quiet, you. It's a good book, you should try reading something a little more cultured some time." Yukari said, flicking some more water at me. "Anyway, it's almost 9, isn't it about time for you to go pick up Aigis-san and take her to the Shrine?"

"Oh, right." I said, getting up from my seat. "Thanks for the reminder. And for your information, I do read stuff that's not manga."

"For instance..?"

"I happen to like reading mystery and romance novels…"

"Fine… So you do read something other than manga." Yukari sighed. "Now seriously, get going. I won't tolerate you making Aigis-san wait for you."

"I'm going, I'm going!" I said, hurrying out the door as I put my jacket on. "See you later!" I hollered as I shut the door behind me.

"Ah, you're here to pick up Ai-Ai, right son?" Yamada Keisuke asked me as he opened the door after I knocked. "Right then, come in, come in. I don't want you getting frostbite or anything." He laughed, slapping me on the back.

"_OW!_ _That HURT."_ I thought, rubbing the place on my back where his hand had impacted with it.

"Woops, sorry. Slapped your back too hard." Aigis' dad apologized. "Well, Ai-Ai's putting on her kimono with her mother, but they should be done soon. Take a seat." He finished, waving a hand at the sofas that were near the door. "I'll be right back with some tea."

A few minutes later, Keisuke-san reappeared with a tray that had two cups of tea on it. "So, you're probably wondering why I'm not at work, huh?" he asked me as he handed me one of the cups. "Well, like I said, business has been a bit slow lately, and no one really wanted to work on New Years' Day, so yeah… we all wound up taking today off." He laughed.

"Ah, that's good. You get to spend quality time with Ai-chan and Yui-san." I replied, nodding.

"Well then, I can assume that you're not going to try anything funny with my daughter, right?"

"Of course, Keisuke-san."

"Good, good." The man murmured, sipping his tea. "And now, we wait."

We waited in relative silence for about eight minutes. Finally, Yui-san's voice rang out from the bedroom hallway. "DONE! Get ready for your jaws to drop!" she shouted.

A few seconds later, Yui-san emerged from the hallway, and with an energetic wave of her arms, shouted, "Presenting! Yamada Aigis in her first time wearing a kimono!"

When Aigis stepped out from behind her mother, I… was… well, stunned. If my jaw could have broken off and fell through the floor, it would have kept falling through the ground until it broke through the other side of the Earth. Aigis was wearing a pink kimono with a floral pattern that appeared on her left shoulder and her right hip, and the purple obi that was wrapped around her waist had two zigzagging white lines on it, as well as more flower print. Underneath the purple obi was a green sash that was another green one, which I assumed was there to make a more secure fit. Needless to say, she looked really, really good in it.

"Wow…" was the only word that could escape my mouth. "_To say that she looks beautiful would be an insult to how good she looks right now…"_ I thought.

"So, how does she look?" Yui-san said, putting her hands on the shoulders of her blushing daughter. "This was one of my old kimonos from back when I was Aigis' age. I'm surprised that I could make it fit her. Is the obi too tight, dear?"

"N-no, it's just fine." Aigis stammered. "S-so how do I look..?"

"You look fantastic!" Keisuke-san bellowed, grinning from ear to ear. "Right!?" he said, turning to me.

"Y-yeah…" I said, feeling my face turn warm. "_I'm blushing, aren't I..?"_ I groaned in my thoughts.

"Aww, look! They're both blushing!" Aigis' mother cooed. "Their faces are the exact same shade of red too! How cute!"

"Come on, son! Be a man, say something or do something!" Keisuke-san said, pushing me towards Aigis.

"I… uh… ah…" I stuttered out, trying to say something that made sense. Failing to do so, I took a deep breath, and then tried again. "You… uh… look amazing… Ai-chan…" I finally managed to say, which caused both our faces to redden further.

"Th-thank you… this is embarrassing to wear though…" my blonde haired friend murmured.

"Why's that? It looks great on you."

"Well… uh… yeah, but I'm not wearing any-"

"OKAY! A little too much information, dear." Yui-san interrupted, putting her hands over Aigis' mouth. "Now, why don't you and Minato-san start heading to the shrine? It'll be better if you can get there before the crowd does."

"Oh, okay then." Aigis said, blushing. "I'll be back later, then."

"Have fun! And no getting frisky with the boyfriend, Ai-Ai!" Keisuke bellowed as we walked out the door.

"He's not my… ugh…" Aigis groaned as the door closed behind us. "Minato-kun, let's go then… and by the way, what's "getting frisky" mean...?"

"I, uh… ah… that's… a very… interesting question…"

"Is it something inappropriate..?"

I nodded silently in response, which solicited a groan from my friend. "Great…"

"Hey, but seriously, you look fantastic in that kimono." I said, blushing again as I tried to change the subject.

"Thanks…"

"Well, uh… if you get cold, just tell me, Yukari suggested that I bring an extra jacket for you, just in case…"

Our short trek to Naganaki Shrine proceeded in relative silence. I knew that she wanted to ask me about our little dilemma, and I could tell that she knew I wanted to ask her the same thing. However, before either of us could bring the subject up, we arrived at the shrine. Despite the fact that it was relatively early in the morning, there were still more people at the shrine than we had originally expected. "So, this is the shrine…" Aigis murmured from behind me.

"Yep, pretty neat, huh?"

"… I suppose…" she murmured in a dull, low voice.

If Aigis was trying to kill the mood, she had done so beautifully, cutting right through the hypothetical jugular vein. "Okay then…" I said, trying to liven up the conversation again. "Let's go pray first."

"Okay then…" Aigis said, her voice finally returning to normal. "What do I pray for though?"

"Anything really, New Year's prayers are generally wishes, like good luck, happiness, success, and all that."

"I see…"

After we made our New Year's prayers, we went to go get our fortunes.

"Woo! I got "Excellent Luck"! What about you, Ai-chan?" I asked, turning around to look at my friend. However, she had her back turned to me, and from what I could tell, was shaking.

"Uh… Ai-chan?"

"Minato-kun!" my friend sobbed, suddenly turning around to face me. "My fortune says "Terrible Luck"! What do I do??"

"Well, uh… fold up your fortune and then go tie it onto the fence over there so that your bad luck gets warded off…"

Quick as a flash, Aigis ran over to the fence and tied her fortune to the fence that was set up. On her way back, however, she rushed a little too much and tripped.

"_Crap._" I thought to myself. I dashed over to where she was falling, which thankfully wasn't too far away, and I managed to somehow catch her before she hit the ground.

"Are you okay?" I said as I helped my friend regain her balance.

"Ah, uh… yes…" she murmured, her voice taking on that low, melancholy tone from earlier. "Thank you…"

"Be more careful next time. We don't want you to get your kimono dirty, now would we?" I said, pretending not to notice the change in her voice. _"Please don't tell me our little issue is what's making Ai-chan act like this…"_ I groaned mentally.

"So… uh… what now?"

"Well, if you want, we can buy some food, or play some games, or… well… pretty much whatever you want…" I said slowly. "_Dammit her mood is starting to affect me too…"_

"Oh, well then… can we try some takoyaki?"

We headed over to the takoyaki booth, where I bought two sticks of takoyaki, one for each of us. For some strange reason, Aigis seemed to have some difficulty eating the takoyaki.

"What's wrong?" I asked her when I was almost done with mine, but it seemed like she had barely touched hers.

"I can't eat it… it's too hot…"

"That's why you blow on it…" I sighed. "Here, let me do it…"

She handed me her takoyaki, which I proceeded to blow on (I didn't spit on it, don't even dare to think that) until I felt it cool down to an acceptable temperature. "Here, try it now." I said, handing the stick back to my friend.

She looked at it warily, then she gingerly took a small bite out of the top piece of takoyaki.

"Well… how is it?"

"It's really good!" Aigis said, smiling. "It's so tasty I almost feel bad eating it." She said before taking another bite out of her food.

"_Thank god. Now that's the Ai-chan that I know and…_" I paused in mid-thought. "_And it comes right back to the question of whether or not I have feelings for Ai-chan… this damn situation is starting to get to me…"_

"Hello..? Minato-kun?" Aigis said, waving her hand in front of my eyes. "Earth to Minato-kun, are you there?"

"OH, uh… sorry about that. Spaced out for a little bit…" I said, scratching the back of my head in embarrassment.

"Come on, Minato-kun! I want to try that thing called cotton candy that they're selling over there!" she said, tugging at my sleeve.

I grinned as I got up. She was acting more like her normal self again, but I could tell from the look in her eyes that something was really bugging her. "_Is she suffering this much trying to figure out an answer..?"_

"Wow, this is so cool!" Aigis said, looking at the cotton candy in her hands. "It's all pink and fluffy and puffy and cool!"

"I've never seen someone so amazed by cotton candy." I laughed.

"Does that make me weird?"

"Nah, it's your first encounter with cotton candy, so I guess it's fine."

"So, uh… how exactly do I eat this..?" Aigis asked with an embarrassed look on her face.

"Well, you can rip it off piece by piece, or you can just bite into the whole thing. It's your choice, really."

Aigis studied the cotton candy for a few more seconds, then ripped off a piece of the cotton candy and popped it into her mouth. "It's good!" she said, savoring the taste. "Hey, it's gone!" she exclaimed a few seconds later.

"Yeah, it dissolves in your mouth."

"Ah, I see… what's it made of though..?"

"Lots and lots of sugar. With some artificial flavorings mixed in."

"Ah…"

After Aigis and I finished the cotton candy, we walked around the shrine for a little bit and talked about random stuff, avoiding the topic that we really wanted to discuss. By the time we were about to leave, the amount of people at the shrine was equal to that of a good-sized crowd.

"Well, this is uncomfortable…" I said as we waded through the crowd of people. I was leading Aigis through the crowd by the hand, and we were being smothered between people as we were trying to leave the main part of the shrine. "Don't let go of my hand, Ai-chan."

"…"

"Ai-chan? You still back there?" I asked, looking over my shoulder. For some reason she wouldn't look at me, though. "_Oh come on, are you serious?" _I thought.

"I won't let go…" she replied finally.

We almost got out of the thick crowd when Aigis suddenly stopped. "What's wrong?" I asked over my shoulder.

"That little boy over there…" Aigis murmured, "He's crying…" she said, releasing my hand as she walked over to the little kid.

"Wait! Aigis, wait!" I shouted. "Ugh, damn…" I groaned, running after her.

When Aigis reached the little boy, she crouched down until she was about eye level with him. "Hello, little boy. Are you lost?" she asked in a sweet, motherly voice that I had never heard her use before.

The little kid, who had messy brown hair and was wearing a red jacket and jeans, stopped bawling and looked at Aigis. "Y-y-yes… I was here with my mama a-and… I don't know where she is…" he sniffed, starting to cry again.

"It's okay, don't cry…" Aigis continued, trying to comfort the little kid. "How about we help you find your mother? Does that sound good?"

"Y-you're not gonna… kidnap me are you, oneechan?" the kid asked through sniffles.

"Of course not." Aigis said, smiling sincerely.

The kid finally stopped crying for good, then wiped his tears on his sleeve. "O-okay then. Thank you oneechan!" he said, finally starting to smile.

"Okay, so what's your name?"

"Kenji." The boy replied quickly.

"Well then, let's go find your mom, Kenji-kun. So where did you last see your mom?" Aigis said, taking the little boy by the hand.

The little kid paused to think. "Uhm… I think at the fortune booth…"

"Okay then, well let's start there…"

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For the next forty minutes, we wandered around the main shrine area, going in circles trying to find Kenji's mother. After he gave us a fairly detailed description of his mother, we started asking the booth owners if they had seen a woman who fit the description. After the second lap around the booths, we realized the problem: while we were chasing the trail of Kenji's mother, she had been simultaneously tracking us, and we were going at nearly the exact same pace, so we were pretty much going nowhere. After this realization, we decided to wait at the takoyaki stand for Kenji's mother to arrive. Finally, a few minutes later after we had stopped, a woman who fit the description of Kenji's mother ran up to the takoyaki stand. "Hello, sorry to bother you again, have you seen-"

"Mama!" Kenji shouted, running to his mother and tugging at her purse.

"Oh my god. Kenji! You're safe, oh my god I'm so glad!" she said, hugging her child with tears streaming down her face. "Don't you dare wander off like that ever again. Where on Earth did you disappear to?"

"I'm sorry, mama." Kenji sniffed. "I wanted to look at the Ultraman masks that they were selling, but when I was done looking I didn't see you anywhere." He continued, beginning to cry. "B-but then onee-chan and onii-san found me and helped me find you." He said, pointing at us.

The woman approached us with tears in her eyes. "Thank you both so much for helping my son." She sniffed, wiping her tears. "I was so afraid that he might have been kidnapped or something horrible like that… I didn't know what to do…"

"It was nothing, Missus." Aigis said, bowing. "We were happy to help."

"Please, there must be something that I can do to repay you for your kindness." The woman said, smiling softly at us.

"It's reward enough to see Kenji-kun reunited with his mother, Ma'am." Aigis said, smiling back.

"Such polite children…" Kenji's mother sighed. "Well, I don't want to lose my boy again, and I don't want to keep you two here, so I'll be leaving now," she said, holding Kenji's hand. "Oh, where are my manners, my name is Suzuki Ayame, and you are..?"

"Oh, I'm Yamada Aigis and this is Arisato Minato-kun. It's a pleasure to meet you, Sato-san." Aigis said, bowing.

"Well, Yamada-san, Arisato-san, thank you again for helping my son find me. Well, we must get going now, my husband's probably worried sick." Sato-san said, laughing. "Say bye-bye to the nice couple, Kenji."

"Bye-bye oneechan! Oniisan!" Kenji said, waving as he and his mother walked away.

"Bye…" Aigis said, as we both waved. "But we're not a couple…" she sighed.

"Well… that was certainly an interesting little ordeal…" I said, grinning.

"Yeah, but we did the right thing, didn't we?" Aigis asked, looking at me with a strange expression on her face.

"Of course we did. Come on, you look tired." I said, motioning for her to follow me. "Let's go find some benches so we can rest."

We made our way out of the shrine again, this time with a little less difficulty. We found benches immediately after we exited the shrine area, so we decided to sit down before we walked home.

"Phew… I'm sweaty from all that moving around…" I huffed, fanning myself with my hand.

Aigis said nothing. She just sat there, staring at the sidewalk.

"Do you want to go get something to eat before I take you home?"

"…"

"Do you want to go somewhere..?"

"…"

"Is the issue of whether or not we have feelings for each other bothering you that much?" I sighed, finally asking the question that I was certain would get a reaction from Aigis.

She froze when she heard me, not that she was doing much moving anyways. "… So you've noticed that I've been acting strange…" she murmured in a low voice.

"Of course, I missed the cheerful, happy Ai-chan that I care so much about…" I said, putting my hand on her shoulder.

"… So do you have an answer yet..?" she said in a voice that sounded like she was almost afraid to ask.

"Well… to be honest… yes, and no." I said, sighing.

"… What do you mean..?" she asked with a questioning look on her face.

"I don't know if I like you… intimately…" I said, talking slowly so that I didn't say anything that I didn't want to, "but I do know that I like hanging out with you… and I think that it's really cute when you smile, and when you blush… and I like seeing you when you're happy, and when you were acting all strange before it bothered me a lot… and when you took the time to help Kenji-san find his mother without a second thought, that was really cool… Gah, I have no idea what I'm saying…" I sighed, scratching the back of my head. "But… yeah… that's pretty much how I feel right now…" I finished, looking down.

"… So you still don't know if you like me "That way"?"

"Sorry, but no…"

"That's a relief…" Aigis said, sighing.

"Huh?"

"I'm sorry that I was acting so strange today, but… I haven't figured out whether or not I have strong feeling for you… and I was so worried that you might like me that I freaked out trying to find an answer…" Aigis sighed. "I kind of ruined the mood while we were at the shrine, huh..?"

"Well, I can't say that you didn't bring the mood down several notches…" I said, trying not to hurt her feelings, "but it's understandable, you were thinking about a really delicate subject…"

"I… I'm sorry Minato-kun… I ruined this whole thing, didn't I..?" she said, sighing with tears starting to form in her eyes.

"It's all right, don't worry about it…" I said, putting my arm around her and holding her a little closer to me until she calmed down a bit.

"Thank you, Minato-kun…" she said, rubbing her eyes a little bit. "I feel the same way though…"

"What do you mean..?"

"Minato-kun, you're one of the nicest people I know. Ever since I came to Gekkoukan High, you've helped me out so much, even if sometimes Yukari-san had to give you a little shove… and… even though I'm not sure if I have romantic feelings for you, I know that I definitely care about you, and I want you to be happy so… yeah…" Aigis finished as her voice trailed off.

"So… as of right now, we don't have any romantic feelings for each other?"

"I suppose so…"

"Then let's leave it that way." I said, smiling at her.

"What do you mean..?" Aigis asked me curiously.

"Well, we care about each other right? So why bother suffering like this when all it's going to do is make the both of us miserable?"

"I suppose that's an acceptable approach to the issue…"

"Yeah, it's just like Yukari-chan said, we should just take our time finding our feelings for each other, we don't want to screw up our friendship with a bad decision, do we?"

"No…"

"Okay then! So let's start acting like we're just friends again, and let's see where it takes us."

"Alright…" Aigis said, still with that sad look on her face.

"Come on, what's with you, Ai-chan? Smile! Please, come on…" I said, starting to get a somber look on my face.

"Aw, come on!" Aigis said, shoving me lightly. "You're so easy to mess with Minato-kun!" she said, finally smiling genuinely at me. "Come on, let's go." She said, pulling me along by my wrist.

"You were messing with me the entire time!?"

"No, just for the past few seconds." My blonde-haired friend replied, grinning at me as she looked over her shoulder.

"Oh… so where are we going…?"

Aigis stopped suddenly. "You know what..? I have no idea…"

We both fell silent for a few seconds, then for some reason I burst out laughing. "What's so funny?" Aigis asked me, looking concerned.

"N-nothing." I said between laughs.

"So you're laughing for no reason? Oh no!" Aigis gasped, feigning shock, "Minato-kun's gone crazy!"

"Ah, you…!" I said, giving her a fake annoyed look. "Come on, let's go." I said, taking her hand in mine. "I'll take you home so you can get out of that kimono. We'll go to Paulownia Mall after you change."

"But why..?"

"You don't really want to stay in that kimono all day, do you?"

"No, I mean… why are we going to Paulownia after this..?"

"We're going there to hang out! Or you don't like having me around anymore..?"

Aigis' face turned red for the nth time today. "N-no! I-it's just that you know… you're holding my hand, and so I thought you were asking me out…"

"Didn't I just say we're going as friends..? Or do you like me all of a sudden..?" I said, teasing her.

"No… I still feel the same about Minato-kun as always…" she said. "But then why are you holding my hand if we're trying to be just friends..?"

"Because…" I said, trying to come up with a decent excuse. Unable to think of one, I just sighed and released her hand, "There, happy?"

Aigis said nothing as we continue to walk, but a few minutes later, she wrapped her left arm around my right arm and got a little closer to me.

"What are you doing?"

"What, you get to flirt with me and I don't get to flirt back?" she said, smiling mischievously at me.

"So Yukari-chan has already explained the concept of flirting to you, huh..?"

"Yep." She said, resting her head on my shoulder. "Friends of opposite genders can flirt every now and again, right?"

"So I can't hold your hand but you can wrap your arm around mine?"

"You started it."

"I guess…" I grumbled, sighing. I definitely wasn't complaining, but… well, I wanted us to stay friends for now, but damned if I didn't like having Aigis lean on me. "_She smells nice… GAH! EVIL THOUGHTS! EVIL THOUGHTS! AWAY WITH YOU!"_ I panicked, mentally slapping myself.

"So what do you want to do at Paulownia exactly..?"

"I dunno, Ai-chan… let's just hang out today, why not..?"

"Sure… let's go then…" she said, smiling at me softly.

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"Welcome back!" Keisuke Yamada bellowed when we arrived at the Yamada household again. "So how was the shrine, Ai-Ai?"

"It was fun." Aigis replied, grinning. "By the way, dad, can Minato-kun and I go to Paulownia Mall after I change out of my kimono? We want to hang out and… stuff…"

"And stuff..?" Aigis' dad asked in a suspicious voice. "Nothing too inappropriate, right?"

"Of course not." Aigis replied, rolling her eyes. "In fact, Minato-kun has taught me a few Aikido moves to protect myself. I could break his arm if he did anything funny. But of course I'd never do that to my best friend." She said, grinning at me. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to change into regular clothes." She said as she headed to her room.

"So what did you do at the shrine?" Keisuke-san asked me after I sat down to wait for Aigis to finish changing.

"Nothing much. We got our fortunes, did the New Year's prayer, then I bought her some takoyaki and cotton candy." I paled suddenly after a thought popped into my mind. "She isn't allergic to any of that stuff is she?"

"Of course not!" the large man laughed. "I would have told you in advance."

"Oh, that's good then." I said, sighing in relief. "Oh, and we helped a little kid who got lost find his mother."

"That was nice of you." Keisuke-san said, looking at me like he had gained some more respect for me.

"Well, Ai-chan was the one who pointed out the kid and held his hand the entire time. I was just dead weight." I said, laughing.

"Well, that's not necessarily true." Keisuke-san murmured, "You could have ditched Ai-Ai and the kid, or you could have complained the entire time, or uh…"

"I get it, I get it." I said, laughing. "Thank you Keisuke-san."

We chatted for a few more minutes until Aigis finally walked out, wearing the outfit Yukari and I had helped her pick out, complete with what I assumed to be her favorite cream colored jacket and light blue scarf.

"What? I like this outfit." My blonde-haired friend said when she saw the look on my face.

"Well, yeah, it looks nice, but is it warm enough?" I asked her out of concern.

"It is, thanks." she responded, grinning at me. "But if it doesn't, you'll loan me your jacket, won't you?"

"Of course." I said, grinning back at her. "Now come on, let's go. Hopefully the mob's thinned out by now."

"What mob?"

"The mob of people who rush to the mall on New Year's for the sales that they have every year."

"Ah… okay then, we better go." Aigis said, giving a small wave to her dad before we walked out the door.

"So why exactly do they have sales at the end of the year..?" Aigis asked me as we began our trek to the train station.

"Well, it's mainly so that the stores in the mall can get rid of their old inventory so they can have the shelf space they need for the new stuff that's coming in during the first months of the new year, while making a little bit of cash while they're at it."

"Ah… I see… but then why do they wait until New Year's to have these sales?"

"Well, I think most of the big stores need some kind of holiday excuse to have a sale… I don't think you can really have a sale for any other reason unless you're overstocked or your store is closing down…"

"I see… so are you sure Paulownia will be less crowded by now?" she asked me as we got to the train station.

"Well, I can't be sure, but people usually go super early in the morning so they can secure what they want, usually by this time all the items that are in high demand are long gone, so that kind of takes away the point of going to the store, so hopefully there won't be too many people…" I answered, sighing.

"Ah… okay… so then why are we going to the mall then? Just to hang out?"

"Yep, just to hang out…"

"Did you finish the homework assignment yet?"

"Of course. Yukari-chan made me do it before the Christmas party so that we could properly enjoy vacation. It was a bit annoying though…" I groaned, remembering the hell Yukari put me through to motivate me to do my homework. "But, at least I have these last few days of vacation free now…" I said, sighing. "What about you? You done with your homework?"

"Well, I've done all of the harder stuff already, so all I have are a few assignments. I should be able to finish everything before vacation ends." Aigis sighed. "But I can call you if I need help, right?"

"Of course. That's what I'm here for." I said, grinning at her.

"Is this what Yukari-san called a hit-on?" my blonde haired friend said, eyeing me suspiciously.

I felt myself blush a little when I heard that. "No, no, I'm just offering my services to you as a friend…"

"Hmm… "offering my services"… that sounds suggestive…" Aigis teased me.

"Ugh, you're impossible…" I groaned.

"Impossible how?"

I groaned again, silencing myself before Aigis could find anything more to tease me about. However, she had a look on her face that quite clearly asked "Why are you so frustrated?" until she realized what I had meant.

"Oh, it's a figure of speech… sorry if I annoyed you… I'm just joking around." She said, swatting my arm playfully.

"All right, all right." I said, smiling softly at her, which, as usual, made her blush.

"Come on, Ai-chan, do you have to blush every time I smile at you?"

"… I'm sorry, it's just that… well, when you smile like that… you look really handsome…"

Now THIS caught me off guard, especially coming from Aigis. "Well… uh… thanks…" I said, scratching the back of my head. I could feel myself blush.

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"Minato-kun, what's it like to feel angry..?" Aigis asked me after we had gotten on the bus to Paulownia Mall.

"What brought this question up?"

"Well, nothing, it's just… I've never felt "angry" at someone before, and well… I want to know what it's like… well, I haven't felt a lot of emotions yet, so I don't know…" she muttered, almost if she was embarrassed to ask.

"Wow… someone who's never been angry at anyone before… that's definitely something…" I said, scratching the back of my head again. "Well, you're usually happy and cheerful, so I guess it's understandable… okay, uh… anger… it's really good that you've never been angry at anyone before… okay… how do I describe this…" I said, pausing for a moment to collect my thoughts.

"What happens when you get angry… well, uh… you tend to lose the ability to think rationally when you're angry, and you tend to act on impulses without thinking twice… but then after you do something out of anger, you feel like crap afterwards… and if you choose to hold it in, it'll just keep growing inside of you until you can't take it anymore, and they you might do something REALLY stupid… it's a really self-destructive emotion, I hope you never have to feel it, Ai-chan…" I finished, sighing.

"I see…" Aigis murmured. "What about loneliness?"

"You've never felt lonely before? Seriously? Even in the hospital?"

"No… I always had nurses or the doctor or my parents with me almost all the time, so yeah, I wasn't too lonely…"

"Okay then…" I sighed. "When you get lonely, you feel… empty… and it's like you don't want to do anything… that's all I can really say…" I said, my voice trailing off as I looked out the window.

I must not have been paying much attention after that, because she murmured something that I didn't quite catch.

"Hmm..? What was that? I wasn't paying attention, sorry." I said, turning to her.

"Oh, uh, never mind…" Aigis said with a red face. If I didn't know any better, I would have thought that she had asked me about love… but there's no way… right?

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Does Aigis really feel absolutely nothing for Minato? And does Minato only "just care" about Aigis!? Why was Aigis asking all those questions at the end? And why is Yukari being so helpful?? These questions, and more, will be addressed in Chapter 6 (maybe xD)! STAY TUNED!!

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Well, hopefully the little "cliffhanger" at the end wasn't too horrible… anyways, thank you all for your support. Be sure to review, and I'll update as soon as I can!

Thanks!

Patleon909


	6. Is that So?

Welcome! Chapter 6 is finally here! We're inching closer and closer to Minato and Aigis' confessions! Well, I don't want to keep you waiting, so without further ado, Chapter 6! Will Minato and Aigis confess to each other this chapter? Read to find out! . .

Well, before we begin, I have good news and bad news. The good news is… well, the chapter's up xD. The bad news is that Calculus is really giving me a hassle, so unfortunately I can only update every two weeks for the time being. I'm really sorry about this, but… well… life sucks like that -_-'.

**Let Me be With You**

**Chapter 6: Is that So…**

"Zzz…" I snored, sleeping on my desk. I was currently bored out of my mind during the physics lecture on inertia, and since I felt tired, I had decided to put my head down and take a nap. Thankfully, I don't snore too loudly, so the teacher hadn't noticed me yet.

"Min… un…" a voice said from beside me, interrupting my nap.

"Myeh…" I groaned, now half awake. "Lemme lone…"

"Minato-kun… wake up…" the voice said again, which I now recognized as Aigis' voice.

"Five more minutes, Ai-chan…" I grumbled with my head still buried in my arms.

"But it's already lunch time…"

"What?" I said, finally sitting up. "Science is done already? Geez, I must have really been out…" I yawned, stretching my arms.

"I tried shaking your shoulders a few times but you were… 'out like a light', I think is the right expression…" Aigis said, taking her lunch out of her bag.

"Yuka-tan tried smacking you with her workbook a few times when the teacher had her back turned." Junpei laughed from behind me. "Of course, that didn't work either, so she gave up after a couple dozen tries."

"_A couple dozen? Isn't that a bit extreme?_" I thought to myself. "Really..? Wow, not even Yukari-chan could wake me up." I said, laughing. "Speaking of which, where did she go?"

"Oh, Yuka-tan went to go find something really heavy to hit you with. You know, to wake you up." Junpei said, smirking.

"You're joking, aren't you?"

"No, I just had a mental picture of Yuka-tan trying to wake you up by hitting your head with a cinder block and accidentally crushing your head." Junpei said, chuckling to himself. "I can see it now, all the splattered brains, the blood, the gore-"

"Okay then… better get out of here while I can… let's go eat, Ai-chan." I interrupted, grabbing my bag before I dashed out of the door.

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"You can run really fast, Minato-kun." Aigis said, peering at me as I leaned on the door to the rooftop to catch my breath.

"Glad… you… could catch up." I said between gasps. "Yukari-chan shouldn't be able to find us here, and if she does, I can bar the door at least."

"Is it strange that we eat lunch together here?" Aigis asked me after we sat down on a bench together.

"Nah, don't think about it like we're doing anything wrong."

"But we're alone… together… on the rooftop…"

I sighed. She was approaching a dangerous point that I really didn't want to discuss yet, so to make her stop talking, I covered her mouth with my free hand. It worked, but I could feel my friend's face heat up underneath my hand. After a few moments of silence, Aigis gently pushed my hand away from her mouth.

"So we're just innocently eating together here, and no one is going to think otherwise?" she asked me as the red started fading from her face.

"Well, we can't really control what other people think, but if things get out of hand, we can just tell the truth. And besides, we don't really draw too much attention when we go up the stairs to eat, so we should be okay." I said, smiling reassuringly at Aigis.

"… All right." Aigis sighed after a few minutes. "I guess I'm just being a bit paranoid, with all this fuss about whether or not we like each other."

"Atta girl." I said, giving Aigis a pat on the shoulder. "And don't stress over that too much. Like I said, when the time comes, you'll know."

We ate in relative silence until we both finished eating. Since we had twenty five minutes left to talk, I decided to start a conversation.

"So what did you do during the rest of winter break?"

"You mean the bits that we didn't spend hanging out together?" Aigis giggled. "Well, I just did my homework, watched some TV… and that's about it."

"I see…"

"You know, I think we hang out a little too much for "just friends"…"

"Okay, this is getting out of hand." I said, getting up suddenly. "Meet me after school. I'm taking you somewhere."

"But…"

"No buts!" I said, interrupting her protest. "You're coming with me after school and that's final!"

"Okay… nothing indecent though, right?" Aigis asked, looking at the floor blushing.

"Of course not!" I shouted, also turning red at her remark. "There's no way I'd do something like that to you! I'd get killed!"

Aigis's face changed after I said that. She looked… concerned about something. "Uh… something wrong?" I asked.

"… Can I ask you something and have you answer me honestly?"

"Sure, what is it?"

Aigis fell silent for a little while, then cleared her throat and spoke.

"You always say that you're not going to do anything to me, but then you always follow up with something like "I'll die", or "Of course not, your dad will kill me." So, here's what I want to know… if I made my dad promise not to hypothetically kill you, would you-"

"Stop." I said, covering her mouth with my hand again. "I can't believe you'd ask me that…"

"Huh…?" she asked with a confused look on her face. "What do you mean?"

"Is your opinion of me seriously that low? Do you honestly believe that I'm that kind of person?" I said in a low voice.

"No, but I-"

"You know how important you are to me. You know I love seeing you happy and that I wouldn't even dream of doing anything to hurt you." I said coldly. "And yet you have the gall to ask me that kind of question… what am I to you? Some pervert who's just waiting to jump on you when the chance comes?"

"No, but-"

"Or do you think that I'm just some stalker or maniac or just some kind of freak!?" I shouted angrily.

"I… I'm so sorry…" Aigis said with tears streaming down from her eyes. "I… I'll leave now…" she said, gathering her things.

"Great, now I've made you cry." I groaned, running my hand through my hair. "I'm sorry for yelling at you like that, okay? Come on, sit down and let's talk about this like reasonable people."

Aigis wiped her eyes and nodded slowly, sitting back down.

"I'm sorry I reacted that way. I really am." I said sadly. "But… damn, that hurt you know. I mean, seriously, I was pretty angry when you asked me that. It was like you don't trust me enough yet… and that hurt… a lot..." I said, my voice trailing off.

"I'm really sorry that I upset you…" Aigis said after a few moments. "I spend time with you almost every day, and we've gotten so close and yet… I don't know, I just… I'm still new to the world you know, and I just felt like I needed to know if you'd do something like that to me… god, I feel so stupid…"

"Meh… it's all right…" I said, embracing my still sobbing friend. "It's fine that you felt the need to know that I'm not just some crazy perv, but… come on, Ai-chan, you probably know more about me than anyone except Yukari-chan, I thought you had more trust in me than that…"

"I should have had more faith in you… I'm really sorry…"

"It's all right… don't worry about it." I said reassuringly.

"… Minato-kun? Can we stay like this for a little while?"

"If it makes you feel better, then sure, why not."

"Thanks…" she said softly.

We stood there for a while, hugging, not caring how much we looked like a couple at that moment. We just knew that at the moment, we were two close friends comforting each other. That is, until the door to the rooftop slammed open.

"Hey, dude, you better run, Yuka-tan's coming-" Junpei began, but stopped when he saw me and Aigis. "Oh… sorry for interrupting…" he said quickly.

"Wait! Junpei-san! It's not what you think!" Aigis said, quickly escaping my grasp.

"And you said you're not together… Minato-kun, you dog." Junpei said, lightly punching me on the arm.

"We aren't going out. Get that out of your head, Junpei." I said flatly.

"Whatever dude. Like I said, Yuka-tan's on her way here, so you better scram."

"Why's she looking for me though?"

"Oh, she said she's gonna punish you for falling asleep in class again. She borrowed a bat from the sports equipment locker too, just so you know."

"Ah… okay then, we better make a run for it." I said, grabbing my belongings. "Come on, Ai-chan. To the safety of the classroom!"

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"School suuuuucks." Junpei groaned as he plopped down on his desk after the last bell rang. "I wish I could just grow a money tree…"

"You're always complaining about school, so why don't you study more?" Aigis asked him bluntly. "That way, the assignments won't be as hard for you and you won't be as miserable."

All Junpei could do was gape at Aigis, considering that she had just driven a point that completely canceled out any excuses he could give.

"Isn't that a correct statement, though?" Aigis asked at the open-mouthed young man.

"It is, but Junpei just refuses to study." Yukari sighed.

"Well, there's a lot of junk I don't get!" Junpei yelled, apparently recovered from his shock from earlier.

"Then ask for help…" I said, rolling my eyes at him.

"So you're volunteering yourself?"

"Hell no." I replied almost instantly.

"Fine. I'll help you study." Yukari said, sighing again.

"Heck no, you always tie me to a chair and make me memorize crap from the book, and-" Junpei whined.

"I won't do that this time." Yukari cut in. "I'll let you tell me what you need help in, and I'll let you ask questions."

"Really?" Junpei asked, with his eyes shining. "Oh, such kindness from Yuka-tan…"

"HOWEVER!" Yukari said suddenly with an evil grin on her face. "If you get distracted, even for a split second, I'll withdraw my mercy and I'll go back to my old methods. Okay?"

"Y-yes ma'am." Junpei replied with fear.

"Okay then. To the library!" Yukari cheered, marching out the door.

"Ugh, I can't believe you two talked me into this." Junpei groaned, turning to me and Aigis. "Well, I'm off to the depths of hell. Be sure to attend my cremation." Junpei said, waving at us as he followed Yukari out the door.

"Junpei-san isn't really going to hell, is he?" Aigis asked me curiously.

"Probably not… not unless he tries to hit on girls in the library… but I think Yukari-chan scared that out of him, so I think he'll be safe…" I replied, a little nervous for Junpei. "I can't believe he's actually gonna try and study… hell must have frozen over…"

"How could hell freeze? And hell actually exists?"

"It's an expression, don't worry." I said laughing. "I thought you looked into that."

"I did, but I didn't find that one for some reason…"

"I see…" I said, for once.

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"So where are we going, Minato-kun?" Aigis asked me as we left the school grounds.

"To the park. It's warm today, so the ground shouldn't be too cold." I replied. I was half expecting her to ask me something along the lines of "Nothing weird, right?" after what I said. However, to my surprise, she just nodded slowly and said "Okay."

"Don't worry, it's nothing bad, I promise." I said, smiling at her.

"I know, I trust you, Minato-kun." She said, smiling back at me.

We walked together to the nearby park, which was empty since everyone else probably thought that it was still too cold outside. After a few minutes of wandering around, I finally found my favorite spot, which was an area underneath a small tree.

"I was right! The ground's pretty dry, and it's not too cold." I said after testing the grass that was near the tree. "Now we can lie down."

"…Why..?" Aigis asked, giving me a questioning look.

"Ah, that kind of suggested something, didn't it? Okay, I'll lie down first."

After I lied down on the grass, Aigis followed suit a few seconds later, lying down beside me on her back, like I did. "Now what?" she asked me after a few seconds.

"Look at the sky."

"What for?"

"Let your worries drift away with the clouds… let your mind clear…" I continued in the best soothing voice that I could.

"All right…" Aigis muttered with a hint of doubt in her voice.

"This was something that I worked out a long time ago, back when I was just starting to live with Yukari-chan and her family. I would lie here for hours on end, just staring at the sky until my worries melted away, so I figured maybe it could work for you." I said after a few minutes.

"I see… okay, Minato-kun… I'll try."

We spent about twenty minutes just staring at the sky, listening to nature, and letting our problems melt away from our minds (or at least that's how it was for me…). After a few more minutes passed, I decided to see whether or not Aigis had fallen asleep.

"Hey, Ai-chan…"

"…"

"Ai-chan? Hello..?"

"Wow… you were right, Minato-kun… my mind feels so clear now… thanks…" she said, turning to smile at me.

"No problem. I'm happy to help."

"Minato-kun… can we stay like this? For just a little longer?"

"Sure…" I replied softly.

After a few minutes passed, however, I felt my eyelids starting to close. "_Gah… so tired… meh, a little nap will do me good…"_ I thought, before my eyes shut and I quickly fell asleep.

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"U-um… Minato-kun… wake up please…" Aigis whispered in my ear.

I opened my eyes and sat up at the sound of her voice. "How long have I been out?" I asked her as I stretched my arms. However, after taking another look at her, I noticed that her face was extremely red for some reason. "Ai-chan, don't tell me you're blushing just from whispering in my ear…" I said, grinning at her.

Aigis opened her mouth to reply, but no words came out. So instead, she just shook her head.

"Then what was it?"

I waited patiently as she sat there in silence, like she was trying to say something but couldn't. Finally, about a minute later, she spoke up.

"Uh… M-Minato-kun… face… sleeping… cute…" she mumbled, her face reddening more each second.

Her comment, needless to say, took me by surprise. "Uh… did I hear that right…?" I asked her.

She just nodded shyly then looked away.

"Oh… uh… thanks…" I said. I could feel my face heating up. "So…"

"Mm…"

"…"

"…"

"We should get going then…" I finally managed to say a few minutes later.

"Ah, right…" Aigis said as she got up and dusted herself off.

We left the park in silence, since both of us were too embarrassed to really say anything. When we arrived at the train station, I decided to try and break the silence.

"Hey, Ai-chan..?"

"…Yes?" she asked in a low voice a few seconds later.

"Listen, I-"

"I'm sorry!" Aigis apologized all of a sudden. "I didn't notice that you fell asleep, and by the time I noticed I saw your face and I tried to wake you up by shaking your shoulder but then I got a better look at your face and I thought you looked really cute when you were asleep but I didn't mean to say it out loud! I'm so sorry!" she apologized, panicking.

"It's all right! It's all right." I said, laughing. "Heck, remember all the times I said that you looked cute in your Christmas outfit or how I said that your smile was really cute?"

"…Yes…"

"Come on, calling me cute isn't anything to get embarrassed about! It's a harmless compliment, don't sweat it!"

"But doesn't being called cute kind of imply something?"

"Were you trying to imply something?"

"NO!" she said, beginning to panic again. "I just-"

"Well then, what's there to get flustered about?" I interrupted before she could have another panic attack. "If you just meant it as a compliment, there's nothing to be ashamed of, so don't worry about it!" I said, smiling at her.

"All right, I suppose." Aigis sighed. "You really know just what to say to make me feel better, don't you, Minato-kun?"

"Woah there, now THAT'S definitely suggesting something." I said, pretending to back away.

"Quiet, you!" she said, hitting me on the arm lightly. "Then what was that speech about harmless compliments just now?"

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding." I said, laughing.

"…You also know just the right way to tease me, don't you?"

"Ah, come on, you know I don't mean it."

"I know." She said, smiling softly at me as we got on the train. Thankfully, there were two seats that were empty , so we sat down next to each other.

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…Hey, Minato-kun..?"

"Mhm?"

"…"

"What is it, Ai-chan?"

"Um… c-could you… hold my hand for a little bit? And before you get any ideas, my hand's just cold, that's all…" she said as her face turned bright crimson.

"Sure." I said, laughing a little. I couldn't tell for sure whether or not her hand really was cold or if she just wanted to try holding hands, but I had a strong feeling that it was the latter.

Moving slowly to make sure that Aigis had enough time to mentally prepare herself, I slowly took her hand in mine, then secured her hand in my grasp. "_Wow… her skin is so smooth… and her hand feels so delicate… ah… wait, what the hell am I thinking!?"_ I thought to myself as my face reddened. "_Still, this is kind of nice… I guess…"_

I could tell that Aigis was just as embarrassed as I was about holding hands, because her face was a much darker shade of red than before, and she would also look away when I tried to make eye contact.

After a few minutes of holding hands, I was surprised to find that I was still blushing, and on top of that, my heart was beating pretty loudly. "_Wait. Woah. What the… why the heck is my heart beating like this!?" _I thought to myself. "_Am I really that scared of holding her hand?"_

I knew that wasn't it though. This weird feeling in my gut and my heart definitely wasn't fear… it was… well… fuzzy, and warm… and it felt good…

"_Wait, don't tell me…"_ I thought, coming to a conclusion that… well, was a bit surprising for me.

"_Hahaha… I like Ai-chan, don't I..?I really, really like her… then again, what's not to like? She's cute, she's really smart for someone who was unconscious for fifteen years, she's really kind, and… well… ah crap, better stop, I'm starting to blush again." _I thought, covering my face with my hand.

"Uhm… Minato-kun? Are you feeling okay?" Aigis asked me as she leaned in to look at me. "Your face is getting red…"

"Oh! Uh, yeah, I'm fine." I said, backing away a little. I couldn't talk to her now! A million thoughts were running through my head! "_What if she doesn't like me back? But why wouldn't she like be? But then why would she like me!? But what if she's t scared to decide? What if she tells her dad!? GAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!" _I shouted in my mind. I was starting to get a headache.

"Minato-kun… you don't look well… here." She said, forcing my head onto her shoulder.

"What are you doing!?"

"I don't know! You don't look okay so I thought you might need some rest!"

"But… agh, all right." I sighed, giving in.

"… Try not to fall asleep, okay?"

"I won't."

For most of the train ride, I had my head on Aigis' shoulder, and I thought hard about what I was feeling. Finally, as our train pulled into Iwatodai Station, I decided not to push Aigis for an answer yet. After all, Valentine's Day would be in two and a half weeks, so I figured I could wait.

"Minato-kun, wake up please." Aigis whispered, nudging my shoulder a little bit.

"I'm up, I'm up." I replied quickly, removing my head from her shoulder.

"Were you awake the entire time?" my blonde haired friend asked me as we rose from our seats and got out of the train.

"Yeah… I busy was thinking."

"About what?"

"It's a secret." I said, smiling at her.

"Like when we took photo stickers for your Christmas gift?"

"Kind of…" I replied, scratching the back of my head. "Do you still wear it?"

"Everywhere I go." Aigis smiled, showing me the locket. "It's… kind of my treasure… hehe…" she said softly.

"Huh… is that so? How come?"

"What do you mean "how come"!? It was a gift from you!" Aigis yelled at me, then paused when she realized what she had said. "Wait! No! I didn't mean it like that, I mean, it's so pretty, and it means all the more that it came from you, Minato-kun…" she said as her voice trailed off.

"Oh… well, that's kind of sweet."

"Is it weird?"

"No, of course not. That's perfectly fine." I said reassuringly.

"... Okay. If you say so."

We walked out of Iwatodai station, and I decided to escort Aigis home. We tried to bring up a conversation as we walked, but every time we tried the conversation died within a few minutes.

"Minato-kun… Valentine's Day is coming up, isn't it?" Aigis asked me as we arrived at her house.

"Uh… yeah. Why?" I asked curiously, although I had my suspicions.

"Nothing, just… just asking." Aigis said as she blushed.

"Are you thinking of getting me something?"

"Giri chocolate, right?"

"Oh, so you know how Valentine's Day works then?"

"Of course I do!" she said, lightly hitting me on the arm. "I did read about it you know…"

"All right, I get it." I said, laughing. "Don't hurt yourself making the chocolates, all right?"

"I'll try not to." Aigis said before she walked off to her front door. "See you later!" she shouted, waving at me.

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"Where have you been?" Yukari said as I walked into the house. "Wait, don't tell me… you were with Aigis."

"Yep. Didn't you notice us leaving school together?"

"I was busy. I guess I didn't." Yukari sighed. "Were you asking her for Valentine's day chocolates? It's only seventeen days away, you know."

"Yukari-chan, we just hung out a bit. And apparently she's making giri chocolates, though I'm not sure for how many people yet."

"You didn't ask?"

"It was none of my business."

"Are you disappointed?"

"What do you mean?" I asked, eyeing Yukari suspiciously.

"That you're getting giri chocolate." Yukari replied flatly.

"What's to be disappointed about?"

"That it's giri chocolate."

"What are you talking about- oh." I said, finally realizing what she meant. "You mean if I'm disappointed that I'll be getting giri chocolate instead of honmei chocolate?"

"That's what I mean." Yukari answered as she picked up her book and began reading.

"Well, a little… but giri chocolate is better than nothing. Besides, I don't want to rush Ai-chan into a decision. It'll be better if she finds how she feels on her own, like I did." I replied a little too quickly. "_Wait… did I just say… oh damn."_ I thought, groaning at my mistake.

"What? What do you mean?"

"Uh, well, I… kinda figured out that I really do like Ai-chan…" I said, blushing a little. "Come on, it's a little emba-

"TELL ME!" Yukari said as she ran up to me and grabbed my shoulders. She had this twinkle in her eye that I found a little… actually, very, VERY disturbing. "Tell me! How did it happen!? Did you tell her!? What are you gonna do now!? TELL ME DAMMIT!" She said, shaking me.

"Stop. Shaking. Me. Please." I said between shakes.

"Oh, sorry." Yukari apologized, releasing my shoulders. "But come on, tell me." She whined.

"Fine." I said, groaning.

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"Aww, that's so cute!" Yukari said, hugging me as I finished my story. "So you're sure that you like her now! That's great! Ah, Minato-kun is finally growing up." She said, beaming at me. "Oh, but you've never had a girlfriend before, have you?"

"Uh… no… please don't bring that up, you might jinx me."

"But that's so cute! I wish you wouldn't wait until Valentine's Day to see how Aigis feels about you, but whatever. It's your call." Yukari said, patting me on the back.

"Thanks. Can I go to bed now?" I said, yawning.

"Sure. Good luck, Minato-kun."

"I'll need it." I said, laughing.

After I changed my clothes and brushed my teeth I plopped down on my bed, and I thought about what to do.

"_Well, I guess I have to play it by ear like Yukari said. If she likes me, SUPER AWESOME! WOOHOO! CONFETTI! FIREWORKS! ALL THAT GOOD STUFF!" _I thought, chuckling to myself.

"…_But what if she doesn't feel the same way about me? Then if I confess and she turns me down, it's gonna be hard to be just her friend anymore, not to mention that it'll make things between us really weird. I probably won't be able to hang out with her as much, and well… ugh."_ I sighed, shaking my head.

"_What am I saying!? I held her hand! I've hugged her! I… well, slept on her shoulder for a little bit! If she doesn't like me, something is seriously wrong with the world!" _I thought, trying to reassure myself. But for all my bravado, I was still pretty scared. I really, really liked having Ai-chan as my friend, but well… I was still a little insecure about the whole thing. I mean, like Yukari-chan said before, I've never had a girlfriend before. Not only that, I've never confessed to anyone before, which made this whole thing even more difficult for me.

"_Dammit. Gotta stop thinking about the "what ifs". I just have to try, whatever happens, happens for the best. I have to hope for the best, but prepare myself for the worst."_ I thought, finally calming myself down. "_But in all honesty, I really hope Ai-chan likes me back…"_ I thought before sleep claimed my consciousness.

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Okay, so not exactly a confession. But now we know how Minato feels about Aigis! Will our beloved Ai-chan reciprocate our heroes' feelings? Will Yukari try to interfere!? And how will Minato be able to handle all of this!? Find out in Chapter 7!

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Phew. Chapter 6 completed! Sorry to disappoint, but yeah, the confession/hook-up wasn't in this chapter. Sorry -_- but I assure you, the confession is coming. Or at least A confession. Anyways, thanks all, please leave a review (I like feedback =3) and I will try and update soon!

Oh, and for those of you who don't know, giri chocolate is essentially chocolate given to friends, so it basically means nothing. Apparently, honmei chocolate is the chocolate you give to the person you like in Japan. Just FYI.

Sincerely,

Patleon909


	7. Taking a Sick Day

Greetings, one and all, to chapter 7 of "Let Me be With You"! I sincerely apologize for the late update, but I have been buried under stress, life, and the works. I won't keep you from the story, so have fun reading and PLEASE don't forget to review! I need reviews to boost my self-esteem which has been a little low lately -_-. Anyways, without further ado, Chapter 7. Enjoy! Also, much thanks to everyone who reviewed! Thank you so much!!!

**Let Me be With You**

**Chapter 7: Taking a Sick Day…**

"Ugh… this sucks." I groaned, putting my arm on my head as I turned over sniffling. "How the hell did I manage to catch a cold now, of all times!? And it's three days before Valentine's Day!" I shouted at the ceiling. Pain suddenly shot through my head, and I cringed. "Ow, ow, ow." I murmured, holding my throbbing head. "No shouting today, I guess…"

"Minato-kun, you're late already, let's go, go, go!" Yukari said, slamming open the door to my room. Then, she looked at me a little closer. "Cold and a slight fever?" she asked with a certain amount of exasperation in her voice.

"Yep."

"Now, of all times?"

"That would be another yes."

"Damn it all…" Yukari groaned, shaking her head. "I'll call Ms. Toriumi and tell her that the both of us will be absent today. I'll be back with some tea… that should help a little bit."

"Wait, the both of us?"

"I can't leave you home alone while you have a cold! Are you crazy?" she asked me with an incredulous look on her face.

"Well, can't dad-"

"Dad and mom are both overseas on business trips, remember?" Yukari interrupted, since she probably already knew what I was about to ask.

"But the make-up-"

"We can do the make-up work together. Now lie down." Yukari said firmly, gently shoving me back onto my bed. She then tucked me in and propped up my pillows so that I was sitting up. "Now stay put."

"But… agh, all right." I groaned, submitting to her request. Yukari could be mean at times, but she was one of the nicest people I could ask to take care of me whenever I got sick. She might be a little mean at times, but whenever I got sick she would always smother me with sisterly love and care until I got better. It was a wonder why she wasn't thinking of being a nurse…

To pass the time until Yukari got back, I started humming the Chobits theme song to myself since I couldn't move far enough to reach my MP3 player. After I finished that song, Yukari sounded like she was still on the phone, so I started humming "Hare Hare Yukai", which was interrupted every few minutes when I had to blow my nose. I got halfway through Hare Hare Yukai when Yukari came back with a thermometer and a tray with a cup of tea and some cookies.

"Okay then, let's take your temperature. Open, please." she said, holding the thermometer to my mouth.

I obediently opened my mouth and Yukari proceeded to put the tip of the device in my mouth. She pressed a button and a few seconds later, the thermometer beeped.

"Okay… 38.42 degrees Celsius… not that bad, but still, you should stay in bed." she sighed, handing me the tray.

"Thanks for doing this for me." I said as I sipped the tea she had brought.

"Don't worry about it, that's what I'm here for." Yukari smiled at me. "I'm going to get started on your breakfast, so stay put." she said, exiting my bedroom once again.

I glanced at the clock and saw that class would be starting in three minutes. As I wondered what Yukari and I were going to miss today, my phone, which I made sure to keep near me at all times, buzzed. I leaned over to my nightstand and saw that I had gotten a text from Aigis.

"Where are you? I didn't see you at the train station and class is about to start." The text message said.

"I. Am. Sick. Today." I murmured aloud as I keyed in the letters. "Can't. Come. Today. Put away your cell phone. Class should be starting soon." I finished, then hit the SEND button.

My phone buzzed again a few seconds later. "Is someone at home with you?"

"Yukari is." I typed back.

"I see. I'll drop by later and give you your missing assignments then." Aigis' final text message said, right before the time that class would start.

"So I'll get to see Ai-chan today… woot." I mumbled, smiling a little. "Hope I don't get her sick though." I laughed, then coughed from laughing too much.

I started getting a little drowsy, so I figured that I'd take a nap until Yukari came with my breakfast. I woke up about twelve minutes later to the sound of my bedroom door opening.

"Okay, here's some hot soup and some orange juice. Time to eat." She said as she sat down on the side of my bed. She put the tray with all of the dishes on my nightstand, got a spoonful of the soup, and held it close to my mouth. "Say 'Aah.'"

"Yukari-chan, I'm not a little-"

"Say "aah" before I give you a good reason to say it." Yukari growled at me. I quickly opened my mouth in response and she put the spoon in my mouth.

"Mmm." I murmured as I swallowed the hot broth. "Miso soup… yum. My favorite." I said, grinning.

"Glad you like it." Yukari said, smiling softly at me.

"So why are you doing this?" I asked quietly.

"Are you feeling delusional?"

"A little bit, actually." I replied, laughing a little.

"Stupid, you're like family to me. I couldn't go to school and leave you to fend for yourself while you were sick." She said, flicking me on the forehead. "Now eat. And you can feed yourself since you have enough energy to ask stupid questions." She grinned.

I could tell she was joking, so I smiled back and began eating the soup. After I finished the meal, Yukari left with the dishes.

"So… what to do, what to do…" I mumbled, thinking about what I should do for the rest of the day. "I can't watch TV, I'll get a headache… can't read because I can't get up… meh, I'll just sleep it off." I sighed, pulling my pillows so that I could lie down properly.

I stared at the ceiling for a while, moving every once in a while to get a tissue and blow my nose. After a while, I got frustrated because my nose blowing and sneezing was preventing me from falling asleep. Imagine my surprise when I completely blacked out a few minutes later…

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I woke up about an hour later to the sound of the phone ringing. "Who's calling?" I asked through my open door.

"It's Aigis. She's calling from her cell phone." Yukari chuckled.

"Is she crazy!? She'll get in loads of trouble if she gets caught!"

"She says they're waiting for the teacher to get to the class, but she's being delayed. Anyways, she wants to talk to you." Yukari sighed, handing me the phone. "Don't stay on too long, she might get her cell confiscated if the teacher walks in." Yukari said as she walked out the door.

"You don't have to tell me that twice." I said, taking the phone from her. "Hello?" I asked into the receiver.

"Minato-kun! Oh, you're okay!" Aigis said, sounding relieved.

"Yeah, it's just a cold and a slight fever, nothing to worry about." I sniffed, then sneezed.

"Are you feeling any better?"

"Well, I think the fever's gone down, but I'm still sneezing and my nose is still stuffed up, so yeah…" I said, my voice trailing off.

"Oh… that… sucks." Aigis laughed nervously. "So, um-"

"HEY! MINATO-KUN!" Another voice shouted into the phone. "Feeling under the weather, are we?"

"Junpei?"

"Of course! How are ya!?" Junpei said cheerfully. "Your little girlfriend over here has been lonely all day without you, and-"

"Mianto-kun is not my boyfriend!" I heard Aigis scold Junpei from the background. I heard sounds of complaints, slight shoving, and a few grunts, which finally ended when Aigis got back on the phone. "Sorry, I had to take my phone back from Junpei-san." Aigis sighed.

"So, you've been lonely without me, huh?" I asked. I could just see Aigis blushing as she struggled to respond.

"Well… yeah." She replied, sighing. "You're pretty much the only person that I hang out with here… I don't even know who to eat lunch with, since we eat lunch together every day… I miss you." She murmured, then paused. "N-no, wait! I didn't mean it like that, I-"

"You mean you miss having me close by, right?" I said, picturing her blushing on the other side of the phone call.

"Yeah… Well, it's not like I can't visit you after school, right?" Aigis asked as her voice perked up a bit.

"Of course you can visit. So just hang in there, okay?"

"Alright, Minato-kun. I'll come by later, okay?"

"All right, can't wait to see you."

"Minato-kun… come on…" Aigis muttered.

"What? I like having you around too, you know." I said, grinning as I thought of her blushing.

"All right. Uh oh, the teacher's here. Bye!" she said, hanging up quickly.

I chuckled to myself as I put the phone on my nightstand. In truth, I was really happy that she had risked her cell phone to check up on me, even if our chat only lasted for a few minutes. "Ah… I really can't wait." I sighed, rolling over. "I'm gonna take another nap…" I yawned, burying my face into my pillow.

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"_Minato-kun… wake up…" Aigis said softly, shaking my shoulder a little. My eyes fluttered open, and I suddenly realized that we were in a park, surrounded by sakura trees._

"_Woah! What the… how did I get here!?" I began to wonder. "Oh… it's a dream." I chuckled to myself. _

"_Did you have a nice nap?"she asked, looking down at me._

_It took me a few seconds to realize that the place I was resting my head happened to be Aigis' lap. "WOAH!" I said, getting up quickly. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry Ai-chan, I didn't mean to-"I began apologizing, but stopped when I heard my blonde-haired friend laughing softly. "Uh… what's so funny?" I asked a little nervously._

"_Minato-kun, you look so cute when you get flustered like that."Aigis said, smiling a dazzling smile at me. "Now, let's eat. The food's getting cold." She said, handing me a sandwich that she pulled out of a picnic basket that had appeared out of nowhere, you know how dreams work._

_We chatted as we ate, but I felt… strange for some reason. This Aigis had the exact same features as the real Aigis but… she was so much more comfortable around me… she seemed more confident and her smile was so radiant now, and when she looked at me, her eyes shone with these lights that were almost… hypnotic… "This… I wonder if Ai-chan could ever become like this…" I thought to myself, but shook my head soon after. "No… I like Ai-chan the way she is right now. Maybe she'll turn out to be like this when we get closer…" I thought. Then my face turned red and I shook my head again, this time a lot more vigorously. "No, no, no… no getting ahead of yourself. You don't even know if she likes you that way… I mean, she really has no reason to not like me, but what if she just wants to stay as close friends..? I couldn't force myself on her… that would just be wrong…" I sighed._

"_Minato-kun, is something wrong?" Aigis asked me with a concerned look on her face._

"_N-no. Everything's all right. I'm just thinking too much." I said, scratching my head embarrassedly. Then, something happened that I never would have seen coming in a million, a billion lifetimes. Then again, it was a dream… but even so, when she placed her hand on mine, leaned in close and softly, ever so softly kissed my cheek, it felt so vivid, so real, that I couldn't help but blush insanely._

"_Does that help?" Aigis asked me in a sweet voice that probably would have made me faint from embarrassment if she had used it on me in real life._

"_Y-yeah…" I finally stammered out after a few seconds. "Thanks."_

"_Good. That's a relief." She said, smiling that dazzling smile again. I could see that she was blushing, probably since she acted so boldly. "Because I want you to be paying complete attention to what I'm going to say." She continued, and I could feel her grasp on my hand tighten a bit._

"_What is it, Ai-chan?"_

"_W-well… you know how we've been dating for seven months now…" she began nervously._

"_Seven months!? Wow…" I thought to myself._

"_A-and well… seven is lucky number so… since it's been seven months and seven days since we've started dating, I feel that now would be the perfect time to tell you… how I really feel about you…" she said, as her voice trailed off._

_My heart began pounding as she looked away for a moment, like she was readying herself to say something big. Then, a few seconds later she turned back at me and looked into my eyes._

"_Minato-kun…" she began, squeezing my hand tighter in her own. "I… I…" she continued speaking, but no sound came out of her lips._

"_What the..? Damn…" I thought as my surroundings brightened and faded away._

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I woke up with a start as my alarm clock sounded. "_Damn it all…_" I said as I slammed my fist onto the Snooze button of my clock. "_That was one hell of a dream…_" I said, and half-consciously brushed my cheek with my hand. "It was so real… it's like she actually kissed my cheek…" I said, then shook my head and laughed. "I must sound so weird… it's not like that would ever happen in reality, now would it…" I mumbled as my voice trailed off. I was surprised to find a few seconds later that my nostrils had cleared up, my throat wasn't too scratchy and my head didn't feel too hot anymore… well, except for the fact that I was still blushing insanely from my dream.

"Wait… what time is it?" I wondered aloud, glancing at my clock. "Ah, it's lunch time… a few more hours and Ai-chan will be here…" I muttered, then my face got a lot hotter. "Damn… I can't think about her without remembering of what happened in that dream…" I groaned, covering my face with my hand.

Since I was feeling better, I got up and grabbed one of the books from my desk. I would have watched TV, but I really didn't want to risk getting a headache.

"Wow, you're reading!" Yukari said when she came into my room to check on me about twelve minutes later. "Kidding, kidding. You're looking a lot better, though." She said, pressing the back of her hand to my forehead. "And your fever's practically gone. So you can go back to school tomorrow, right?" she said, grinning evilly at me.

"Of course." I laughed. "So what's for lunch? I'll help." I said, beginning to get up from my bed. I was somewhat surprised when she pushed me back down.

"No. I'll make lunch. I can't make you strain yourself right after you had a cold, you know. I appreciate the thought, though." She said, smiling softly at me.

"Can I read?"

"Either that or keep sleeping. No getting up though." Yukari said, pressing her finger into my shoulder to emphasize her point.

"All right, all right." I said, grinning. After she left, I decided to continue reading, since I didn't want to think about what Yukari would do to me if she caught me doing anything other than reading or sleeping. Since the door was open, I could hear the sounds of Yukari cooking as she prepared our lunches. After about forty minutes of chopping, slicing, and various other cooking sounds, Yukari came back into my room with a tray that had two plates of steaming hot food on it, as well as a glass of water, which I assumed was for me.

"Mmm, it smells good. What is it?" I asked as I inhaled the delicious scent of the hot food.

"Guess." Yukari said, sitting down on the edge of my bed facing away so that I couldn't see what was on the tray she held.

"Curry?" I asked, recognizing the smell of her best dish.

"Damn you. Your nose is too good." Yukari pouted, handing me the tray as she lifted her own plate off of it.

"It looks good. Itadakimasu!" I said, happily clapping my hands together before digging in.

"It's really good!" I said after my first few mouthfuls. "I remember when your cooking was so bad it could raise the dead and then kill them again an instant later." I said, laughing. "In fact, didn't you give that guy you liked back in middle school food poisoning from one of your boxed lunches?"

"Shut up!" Yukari said, grabbing my book from the nightstand and smacking me on my head with it. "It took me months to forget that incident! And he practically got a restraining order against me after that anyways!"

"All right, all right." I chuckled.

"Speaking of which, I'm really surprised that you haven't had a girlfriend yet, Minato-kun." Yukari said, looking at me with a concerned expression.

"Meh, I just haven't found someone that I like that way yet." I said, taking a drink from my glass of water.

"Until you met Aigis?"

I half choked on my water when I heard that. "Uh… well… yeah." I said, feeling my face get warmer. "She's just… I don't even know how to describe her in a way that does her justice… I just know that I really like her." I sighed.

"It'll be a real shame if she doesn't like you back…"

"Don't jinx me, please…" I groaned.

"Aw, come on!" Yukari laughed, swatting my arm playfully. "The chances of her not liking you the way you like her is next to nothing! She definitely likes you! Just think positive, dammit!"

"I want to believe that she likes me too, but I can't really be sure until I hear it from her…"

"Man, you two are taking too long to confess to each other…" Yukari groaned. "She's coming over later, right? Then drop a couple dozen hints here and there and see if you can get anything out of her."

"All right, all right. I'll try." I sighed in defeat. "I'm not going to force her to say anything, though."

"Okay. Now go back to sleep. You're not going to be napping when Aigis comes by." Yukari said, gathering both of our plates since we were both done eating.

"Okay, okay." I muttered, lying back down.

"Less talk, more sleep!" Yukari yelled as she walked away.

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I woke up to the sound of the door chime. "It's already three?" I yawned, stretching my arms as I sat up.

"Coming!" Yukari shouted as she ran to the door. "Minato-kun! You have visitors!" Yukari yelled a few moments later.

"Okay… wait, visitors?" I asked. "Isn't Ai-chan the only one here?" I asked as I walked out of my bedroom to the living room, which near the front door. When I arrived, I was surprised to see that Fuuka had also come with Aigis to visit. "Ai-chan! Fuuka-chan! Welcome!" I said happily as I sat down between her and Aigis.

"Oh, hello Minato-kun!" Fuuka said, smiling brightly at me. "It's good to see that you're feeling better. Here, this is for you." Fuuka said, handing me a medium sized container and a plastic spoon. "It's some cream stew I made in home economics today." she grinned.

"Mmm, smells good." I said as I opened the container. "Itadakimasu!" I said, before scooping some of the stew out.

"How is it?" Fuuka asked a little anxiously.

"It's actually pretty tasty." I said, smacking my lips. "It's a lot better than what you would make in middle school. Remember when you and Yukari-chan almost burned down the kitchen in our middle school?" I asked, chuckling at the memory.

"Minato-kun! It took me forever to forget that!" Fuuka pouted while Yukari hit me on the head with her book.

"It's lucky you two didn't get caught though." I laughed.

"How did you not get caught?" Aigis asked.

"Oh, well, no one saw it when the fire started, and in the midst of all that chaos no one was able to figure out that it was our fault." Yukari laughed embarrassedly. "No one got hurt, but it was still pretty bad…"

"That must have been scary…" Aigis said, chuckling a little.

"Oh, well, I just came to give you the cream stew, Minato-kun. I'd stay, but I have to go home now. See you tomorrow!" she said, waving at me as Yukari opened the door for her.

"So how did you hold up today?" I asked, turning to Aigis, who I saw was blushing insanely. "Uh… you okay?"

"I, uh…" my blonde haired friend began, stammering. "C-can I… can we talk in your room? I… I'd like to see it, if you don't mind…" she asked nervously.

"Oh… sure. Let's go." I said, unconsciously taking her hand in mine as I got up.

"Ah…"

"Oh, damn. Sorry." I apologized, quickly releasing her hand from my grasp.

"I- It's all right." she blushed.

We walked down the hall to my room, which was still a mess since I hadn't had the chance to clean yet. "Sorry for the mess, it's usually a lot cleaner." I said, rubbing my neck in embarrassment.

"Wow… so this is Minato-kun's room…" Aigis said as she looked around in awe. "It's really nice."

"Hahaha, thanks." I said, smiling. "Let me clean up a little. I can't have a guest in my room with all this trash lying around." I said. I proceeded to throw away all the tissues that I had used, made my bed, re-organized the items that were on my nightstand, and sprayed everything that I had touched with disinfectant, all of which took about twenty minutes.

"Phew. That's better." I said, wiping my brow.

"Minato-kun, you're feeling better, right?" Aigis asked me with a concerned look on her face.

"Well, my throat's still a little itchy, but other than that I'm all right."

"That's a relief." Aigis said, smiling softly at me. "I was so worried."

When I saw her smile, the image of Aigis' dream self kissing me on the cheek popped into my head, and I could feel my face get a lot warmer. "Oh, uh… thanks." I said, turning away from her. "So, uh… how did you hold up today?" I asked as I sat down on my bed.

"I did all right today. I had lunch by myself on the rooftop, and I was lonely without you…" Aigis murmured, then blushed. "O-oh, and here are the assignments that you and Yukari-san missed…" she said, rummaging in her bag a little bit before she pulled a couple dozen worksheets.

"Thanks." I said, getting up to take the papers from her. As I got closer to her, the kiss from my dream popped into my mind again, and I could feel my head getting redder.

"Minato-kun, are you okay?" Aigis asked as she parted her hair and pressed her forehead on mine. "No… your temperature seems to be normal…" she murmured.

"What are you doing!?" I asked incredulously.

"This is how people in manga and anime check for fevers." She replied, apparently too concerned about my health to notice just how close our faces were. I, on the other hand, was not as oblivious.

"_Aigis… face so close… blood rushing to head…"_ were the last thoughts that echoed through my mind before I fainted.

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"Minato-kun… wake up…" Aigis said worriedly, shaking my shoulder a little.

"Woah!" I said, sitting up quickly. "_Oh… it's not that dream again…"_ I thought.

"You fainted, but you were lucky enough to have fainted onto your bed. Are you all right?" Aigis asked, peering at me with concern in her eyes.

"Yeah… sorry about making you worry like that…"

"I'm sorry about pressing my forehead to yours." Aigis apologized suddenly. "I was so concerned that you were getting sick again, and I… I didn't want you to be gone for another day…" she sighed. "I would miss you too much…" she murmured quietly.

"Actually, it was mainly my fault. I was being stupid." I said, laughing nervously.

"How so?"

"Well, uh…" I began, but paused. "It's… a little embarrassing… and you might hate me a little for it…"

"I could never hate you!" Aigis shouted a little too quickly. "Ah, well, uh… I mean… it can't be that bad, can it...?"

"Okay, well, if you think you can handle it…" I sighed, preparing myself for the worst possible situation. "_I have a bad feeling about this…_"

I told Aigis about the dream that I had with us together in complete detail. As my story continued, I could tell that her expression was changing. I couldn't tell if she was getting mad at me or if she was happy, but… it was definitely changing.

"So yeah… that's why I was acting so weird earlier…" I murmured quietly. Aigis was just staring at the floor, and I couldn't tell what kind of expression was on her face. "Uh… Ai-chan?" I asked nervously. "_No… please… no…"_ I thought, fearing the worst.

"I'm sorry. I'm not feeling well." Aigis said, getting up quickly. "I need to go home. Sorry for intruding." she said, bowing quickly.

"No! Wait!" I began, but it was too late. When I got up from the bed she was already out my bedroom door and was already opening the front door.

"Stop! Please!" I said, grabbing her wrist just as she was about to run out the door. But what happened next shocked me even more that my dream had. She wrenched her wrist out of my grasp and looked at me for a split second. But in that moment I saw fear, confusion, and most importantly, pain, in her beautiful blue eyes that were now filled with tears. Before I could say anything else, she was already out the door, running down the street to her house at breakneck speed.

"No…" I said quietly, as I sank to my knees. "She… that expression on her face… that look in her eyes… she hates me now…" I murmured as despair filled my being down to my core. "Damn… I screwed up big time…"

I locked the front door, then slowly shuffled back to my bedroom, locking that door behind me as well. I laid down flat on my bed, buried my face in my pillow and my thoughts descended into chaos. "_I messed up big time… she was so concerned about me, and I stupidly made her hate me by telling her about my dream… hell, I might as well have told her that I like her already… Damn it all to hell…"_

"Minato-kun? Are you okay in there?" Yukari said from outside my door.

I got up from the bed and made my way to the door, which I unlocked and then opened. Yukari walked in, and quietly embraced me.

"I'm so sorry it didn't work out… I saw and heard everything… I'm so sorry…" Yukari said softly. "I know you want to cry… so go ahead, Minato-kun… this is all I can do to help."

I couldn't hold back my tears anymore. I buried my face in her shoulder and quietly sobbed as she gently rubbed my back.

"Shh… I'm so sorry, but… it's going to be okay…" she whispered, trying her hardest to comfort me in my sorrow and grief. But even so, the pain in my chest wouldn't go away… it just wouldn't…

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HOLY CRAP! What just happened there!? Did Minato really screw things up!? Does Aigis hate Minato now!? WHAT ON EARTH IS GOING ON HERE!? Find out in Chapter 8, COMING SOON (hopefully)!

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Yes, I know, you all hate me for doing this. But I have my storyline, and this is a part of it. Anyway, please review, feel free to say "YOU ASS!" in your reviews, and I promise I will do my damnedest to update soon. Not making any promises though, so many of my teachers are going insane on me T-T

Patleon909


	8. Wait, WHAT?

HELLO! Finally, Chapter 8 of "Let Me be With You" is here! Of course, considering what happened in the last chapter, I shouldn't be sounding so happy… then again, you don't know what I have planned =D Anyways, I don't want to keep you in suspense, so here it is! Please enjoy, and don't forget to review when you finish, my self-esteem could use a boost right about now xD. And thanks to everyone who's reviewed so far!

**Warning:** I own nothing, and this chapter is LOOOOOOOOOONG. Just an FYI.

**Let Me be With You**

**Chapter 8: Wait, WHAT!?**

"Mu…." I mumbled audibly as Junpei poked me with a pencil. "Stop…"

"Yuka-tan, how long has he been like this? It's getting depressing." Junpei whined.

"He's been like this for two days… don't bother him, Junpei." Yukari sighed.

"He's getting all mope-y because of Aigis-san?"

"Yes… now let me mope." I moaned with my face in my arms. To say that I felt like crap would have been an understatement. After what had happened at my house, Aigis had been avoiding me as much as she could. Whenever she would see me in the halls, she would run away from me. When I ate lunch on the roof, she would go eat with Yukari and Junpei. When I tried eating lunch with the three of them, she would disappear the moment I sat down. She left the classroom in between classes, and wouldn't even look in my general direction despite that I was sitting right next to her. When we went home, she always did her damnedest to stay at least 5 meters away from me at all times. Needless to say, I felt like we were acquaintances at best now. And that was not a good feeling, especially since we had been so close until just two days ago.

"Yo, Aigis-san!" Junpei said.

"Not funny." I mumbled.

"Good morning Junpei-san, Yukari-san." an all-too-familiar voice said politely. "Happy Valentine's Day."

I snapped up in my seat and saw Aigis was standing right next to my desk, smiling at Yukari and Junpei. However, when she looked at me, her face fell slightly and she looked away.

"Happy Valentine's Day!" Junpei said cheerily. "Are you giving out any giri chocolate today?" he asked eagerly.

"As a matter of fact, I am." Aigis replied, the smile returning to her face. She rummaged in her school bag for a bit, then pulled out two small bags of chocolate. "One for Junpei-san and one for Yukari-san." She said, handing each of them a bag.

"No giri chocolate for Minato-kun?" Yukari asked, eyeing my former friend questioningly.

"No…" she replied quietly, looking away.

That was the final shot to my heart. I mean, come on. A few days ago I was worrying about whether or not she liked me. Now, I wasn't even getting giri chocolate from her. "_That's it… she officially hates me…_" I thought.

"Ouch… burned…" I heard Junpei mutter.

"Hey!" Yukari hissed, hitting him on the arm. "Don't say things like that now!"

"No… it's okay…" I said, doing my best to put a sincere smile on my face. I could tell it wasn't too convincing judging from the look on Yukari's face. "I wasn't really expecting anything…" I said, putting my head back down on the desk.

How fortunate for me that Ms. Toriumi decided to come in at that moment. "All right everyone, put away the chocolate. Let's get to work." she said loudly as she put her books down on her desk.

"_Yay… I can mope in peace now…_" I thought as Ms. Toriumi started taking roll.

"Are you all right, Minato-san?" Aigis asked from the seat beside me.

"_She's talking to me again!_"I thought cheerfully. Then I noticed something that bothered me even more. "_Minato-san? She's addressing me as Minato-SAN!? Aw damn it…_" I groaned in my head. "I'm okay. Just feeling a little miserable." I replied half-heartedly.

"Then… you should probably sit up." she said quietly a few seconds later.

"Fine…" I groaned, getting up.

"Minato-san… there's something I want to talk to you about… can we meet after school?" she whispered when Ms. Toriumi wasn't looking. "It's… important."

My heart skipped a beat when I heard that, and two thoughts appeared in my mind. On one hand, she could be inviting me to do something with her to try and repair our friendship. On the other hand, she could just want to tell me that she didn't want anything to do with me anymore and that she wanted me to screw off. Still, the off chance that we could rekindle our friendship was there, and I was willing to risk getting my heart crushed again for that. "All right." I whispered back. "But why can't we talk about it during lunch?" I asked.

"It's… also something private… I would like to minimize the possibility of someone barging in on us as much as possible." she replied quietly after a few seconds. "So… please…"

"Okay, okay." I sighed. "After school it is."

I was kind of looking forward to whatever Aigis had to say to me. Kind of because there was still the little imp in the back of my mind that was telling me "She hates you, she hates you!" But still, I was hoping with all of my might that she wanted to try and save our friendship, so I decided that I was going to listen to what she had to say and cheered up a little bit.

In all of my anxiousness, first and second period were like a blur to me. Surprisingly, in the time between second and third period, Fuuka decided to drop by. "Minato-kun, I have something for you!" she said in a singsong voice as she entered my classroom. "Open your hands and close your eyes, and you will get a nice surprise!" she chimed.

"All right, all right." I laughed to myself. I held out my hands after I shut my eyes, and when I opened my eyes again I found a small bag of chocolates sitting in my hand. "Happy Valentine's Day, Minato-kun. And it's giri chocolate, so no teasing please." she said, smiling at me softly.

"Ah, you know me so well." I chuckled. "Still, this is really nice. Thanks, Fuuka-chan." I smiled back at her.

"Come on, taste it!" she urged with sparkles in her eyes,

"I won't keel over from the taste, will I?" I joked.

"I promise you that won't happen." Fuuka laughed.

"All right… here I go." I said, slowly popping one in my mouth. "Hmm…"

"How is it?"

I debated pretending to choke on the chocolate, but it was really, really good and I didn't want to be an ass about it. "It's delicious!" I said, smiling at her.

"Oh, thank goodness." Fuuka sighed in relief. "Well, now that I know they aren't poisonous, here's one for the both of you." She continued, pulling out two identical bags from her pockets and handing them to Junpei and Yukari.

"Wait, so I was just your guinea pig!? That's a little messed up." I protested loudly.

"Sorry. I just didn't want to end up risking all three of you, so I figured… you know…" Fuuka replied, laughing embarrassedly. "I'm sorry…"

"Eh, don't be." I shrugged. "I'll just think of it like I got to taste your chocolate first." I said, smiling sincerely at her.

"Oh no!" Fuuka said, quickly glancing at the clock. "I'm sorry everyone, I have to run back to my class now. Bye!" she said, rushing out of the classroom.

"Thanks for the chocolate!" Yukari and Junpei hollered simultaneously.

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"Ah… I wonder if Ai-chan will eat lunch with me today…" I sighed as I walked out of the classroom with my lunch. Aigis had continued to semi-avoid me for the majority of the day, even going as far as to leave for lunch a few minutes earlier than I had, and my hope that she wanted to try and fix or friendship was struggling to stay alive. "Come on, don't give up until the very end!" I said, trying to motivate myself. "… Well, that was a total failure." I sighed a few seconds later. I emerged on the rooftop about a minute later, which was completely empty except for the stone benches that were always there. "Of course…" I sighed, sitting down at the nearest bench. "She's probably going to eat with Yukari and Junpei then…"

As I looked up at the sky, I reminisced about all the times Aigis and I had eaten together on the roof. How we used to chat about the most random things. How Aigis and I would sometimes try each other's food. How she would blush that cute blush when I complimented her extraordinary cooking. All the times we laughed together as friends, that I was scared to death that we'd never have those precious moments together again. "Man, it's really freaking lonely without Ai-chan up here…" I sighed. "I need to stop depressing myself… though I guess you really don't know what you have until you lose it…"

My thoughts and self-pitying were interrupted when the door to the rooftop creaked open. "Oh… Minato-san… you're here." Aigis said quietly. "Do… you want to be alone? I can leave if you want…" she said as her voice trailed off.

"No no no, it's all right. There's plenty of room up here." I said, smiling at her.

"Oh… okay then." Aigis replied, slowly stepping through the doorway. She proceeded to the bench that was next to mine and sat down. I personally would have preferred it if she had sat down next to me, but at least we were eating lunch together again, even if it was only in a technical sense. "_At least it's kind of an improvement."_ I thought happily to myself.

The improvement stopped there, and we ate in silence for the next seven minutes. However, I caught my blonde-haired friend glancing at my food, and smiled. "Want to try some?"

"Is it really okay?"

"Sure, go ahead. There isn't much left anyways." I said, holding out my lunchbox to her.

Aigis gingerly reached out with her chopsticks and slowly grabbed one of the last pieces of beef teriyaki that was left of my lunch. After looking at me again for approval, she took the piece of meat and popped it into her mouth.

"And?" I asked expectantly.

"It's delicious." She said as she swallowed. "It's so good."

"Here, take the rest. I'm full."

"What? Are you sure?" Aigis asked with a surprised look on her face.

"Of course, of course. Go for it." I said, smiling at her.

"Oh, thank you Minato-kun!" my blonde-haired friend cheered as she practically tore into the last bits of my food.

"Wow, do you really like my cooking that much?" I laughed as Aigis finished the last of my lunch.

"I can't help it! Your cooking's the best!" Aigis said as she handed me back my lunchbox. "Oh, and thanks for the food!" she said happily.

"No problem." I grinned. "_She said she loves my cooking! And she called me Minato-kun again! Things are looking better!_" I thought joyfully.

"So… Fuuka-san gave you giri chocolate today?" Aigis asked suddenly.

"Yep. I have to say, her cooking's really improved. There was a time when she could make boiled water taste bad." I laughed.

"How can boiled water taste bad?" she asked me quizzically.

"It's just a figure of speech; she couldn't really make water taste bad." I laughed. "But her cooking really did suck in middle school. It's amazing how much she's improved, though."

"Really… that's good."

"Yep."

We sat in an awkward silence together for a while as I frantically tried to think of something, anything to talk about. "_Come on, think dammit!_" I yelled at myself mentally.

"Minato… kun..?" Aigis asked slowly, interrupting my thoughts.

"Huh? Yeah, what is it?" I asked turning to her quickly.

"… You don't mind that I called you Minato-kun?"

"Why would that bother me?" I asked her, puzzled by the question.

"… Don't… me..?" Aigis muttered.

"Huh?"

"Don't… don't you hate me?" she asked slowly.

"Huh? Why-" I began to ask.

"Because of the way I acted a few days ago…"

"But I thought you hated me!"

"W-what? Why would I hate you, Minato-kun!?"

"Because of what I told you about my stupid dream!"

"It wasn't stupid!" Aigis shouted at me.

"Then why have you been acting so weird and avoiding me!?"

"Because I thought you hated me!"

"But you acting like that made me think that you hated me!"

"R-really..?" Aigis asked, looking down. "I'm sorry… you must have felt terrible these past few days then…"

"Well yeah… of course I was miserable for the past few days…" I said, rubbing the back of my neck. "I couldn't hang out with my best friend for two whole days… that really sucks you know…"

"… So these past two days have been nothing but a massive misunderstanding..?"

"I guess so…" I murmured.

"I'm sorry for making you so miserable, Minato-kun."

"Meh… it's all right, Ai-chan…" I murmured. "So you really don't have giri chocolate for me?" I asked, turning to her.

"No, but-" she began, but was interrupted by the school bell. "Oh… lunch is over…" my blonde haired friend sighed.

"Well, we can talk after school. You said you need to tell me something important, right?" I asked, looking at her.

"Ah… that's right…" Aigis said, smiling softly. "I guess I can wait until after school…"

When I saw that smile on her face, that beautiful smile that I had missed so much, I couldn't help myself. Before I realized what I was doing, my arms had wrapped themselves around Aigis in a tight embrace.

"Minato-kun? W-What are you doing??" Aigis asked me with a surprised tone in her voice.

Realizing what I had just done, I quickly released her from my grasp and slapped myself mentally. "Agh, I'm sorry… I-I couldn't... help it…" I stammered embarrassedly. "_Please don't let her hate me again…_" I thought in anguish.

"I… is this the extent of how miserable I made you during these past few days?" Aigis asked with a surprising amount of concern in her voice. "I… I'm so, so sorry, Minato-kun…" she said, bowing her head apologetically. "But… I've missed your company too, you know…" she said, her cheeks turning slightly red.

"Well, uh… let's return to class… we have two minutes left…" Aigis said after a few seconds, grabbing my wrist as she semi-dragged me along. We moved quickly, and we barely made it back into the classroom before the bell sounded. "Minato-kun… can I ask you something?" Aigis asked me as we hurried back to our seats.

"Go for it."

"Are we… all right?"

"Huh? What do you mean by that?"

"Are we back to being friends again?"

"Well… I hope so. If it's okay with you…" I replied quietly.

"Oh, that's good." Aigis sighed in relief. "We'll talk later, okay?" she asked as the door to our classroom slammed open.

"Of course." I said softly, smiling at the blonde-haired girl.

"Okay students! Time to get to work!" Our math teacher hollered as she set her books down on the teacher's desk.

Our teacher's droning of trigonometric functions flew in one ear and out the other. I was too happy that Aigis didn't hate me to care about math, or the fact that I was slightly annoyed at how she had treated me for the past few days. "_It's all right. She probably didn't want to provoke me since she thought I hated her. Still, I don't get how she could think I hated her…_" I wondered. "_Then again, I'm not one to talk… I was also delusional enough to think that she hated me too…_" I laughed mentally.

"Arisato! You seem to be paying attention!" Our math teacher shouted suddenly. "Stand up and tell me what the derivative of tangent is!"

"Oh, uh…" I said, getting up from my seat. "The derivative is secant squared." I stated flatly after a few seconds of thought.

"That is correct. Now stop staring at Yamada and pay attention." Our teacher grumbled as she turned back to the board.

I could feel my face get warmer as most of the class gave me a collective weird look, although there were some whistles and catcalls that came from the back of the classroom. "_Dammit, I didn't realize I was staring at her…_" I slapped myself mentally as I sat back down.

"Don't worry about it. It's okay." Aigis whispered to me quietly, although I could tell that she was slightly embarrassed by our teacher's comment.

"No, it was my fault… sorry Ai-chan." I apologized when our teacher wasn't looking. "I think we'd better talk later… don't want to risk getting in trouble, do we?"

Aigis nodded silently in agreement, and we both turned our attention back to the lesson. Or at least, half of my attention was on what the teacher was saying. The other half was occasionally sneaking glances at Aigis, as weird as it sounds. I mean come on! I had spent the last two days without seeing Aigis with her normal, gently smiling self and now she was completely back to normal! It felt good to see her smile again! "_Man, I hope I never have to suffer through an experience like that ever again…_" I groaned in my mind.

I paused after I thought. "_Huh… so I like her that much..._" I smiled, chuckling to myself.

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

"So, you two are all right now?" Yukari asked me as the last bell rang, signaling the end of the school day.

"Yeah, we are." I nodded, smiling at Aigis.

"That's great!" Junpei cheered, slapping me on the back. "You were getting seriously depressing man."

"Sorry about that." I apologized.

"So what are you two gonna do now? Hang out together like you usually do?"

"I assume so." Aigis replied with a small smile on her face. "I… have something important to discuss with Minato-kun."

"Ooh! I wanna see this!" Junpei said with a look of mischief in his eyes.

"Oh no you don't." Yukari said, grabbing my poor friend's ear and pulling hard on it.

"I'm sorry Junpei-san, but… it's a private matter." Aigis said while Junpei squirmed.

"Okay, well have fun." Yukari said, turning to me. "Just make sure you don't get home too late, okay?"

"Okay. I'll call you if anything comes up." I said as I rose from my seat. "So… shall we go? You said you wanted to take me somewhere, right?"

"Ah, yes…" Aigis murmured, getting up from her seat as well.

"So where are we going?" I asked as we walked out of the gates of Gekkoukan High. "Iwatodai Strip Mall? Port Island?"

"Minato-kun… I have… a strange request…" Aigis muttered shyly. "But… could you please follow me and do what I ask without questioning me?" she pleaded. "I promise it's nothing bad, but I know it's a strange thing to ask, but…"

How could I refuse her? At that point, if she had asked me to go roast a marshmallow on the sun for her I would have done so in a heartbeat. "Sure." I replied with a grin. "Your wish is my command." I said, laughing. "So where are we going, master?" I joked.

"To the park that you brought me to a few weeks ago." Aigis said softly.

"Huh… strange, but all right." I said. "_Why there, though..?_" I wondered in the back of my mind.

We walked together in a strange, heavy silence and arrived at the park a few minutes later. Aigis then signaled for me to follow her, and we would up sitting together underneath my favorite tree.

"So…" I murmured, trying to figure out why we were here. All of the possibilities that wound up with me getting rejected by Aigis immediately popped into my head. "_NOOO!!!_" I screamed mentally, beginning to panic after seven minutes passed without any sign of movement from my blonde haired companion. "_Why would she not like me back? But then why would she? But she thought I hated her! GAAAAAAAAH!!!_"

My insane panicking was interrupted when Aigis suddenly let out a heavy sigh, like she had decided on something important. "Minato-kun… could you… close your eyes? Just for a minute…" she asked softly.

This request was weird, even by my standards, and the fact that I was also freaking out wasn't really doing anything to bolster my judgment. "Uh… why though? You're not gonna-"

"Please… just do it. Please." Aigis pleaded with a frightened look in her eyes. "Don't make this any harder for me than it has to be…" she whispered quietly.

My mind snapped at that point. I was convinced that whatever she wanted to do with me, it wasn't going to end well. But I did promise to do whatever she asked without any questions, so I decided to suck it up. "Okay…" I sighed, leaning against the trunk of the tree and closing my eyes shut tight.

I heard some shuffling from the direction of where Aigis was sitting, and after a few moments, she gave me another request, this time a much weirder one. "Open… your mouth, please…" she asked in a barely audible voice.

The only reason I could tell she was as embarrassed as I was about that request was because I could practically feel the heat radiating off of her face, which was coming from what I assumed was a very heavy blush. "Okay…" I said, slowly opening my mouth and preparing for the worst. Five seconds passed and nothing happened, but shortly after, I felt something sweet and soft put on my tongue. I chewed curiously for a few seconds, and then realized that Aigis had put some chocolate in my mouth.

"Huh… I thought you said I wasn't getting giri chocolate." I said, swallowing the small treat. "It's really good. Did you make it yourself?" I asked, opening my eyes. I saw that Aigis was sitting in front of me…

With a heavy blush on her face...

And a box in her hands that contained a heart-shaped chocolate with a small piece broken off…

"_Wait…_" I thought slowly. Slowly, the pieces assembled themselves in my mind, and once I got the whole picture in my head, my jaw could have broken off and fallen through the other side of the Earth if it were physically possible.

"A- Ai-chan, you didn't… that chocolate… it's… you realize it's-" I began, stuttering like an idiot.

"It's in the shape of a heart. I didn't make a mistake…" Aigis said, casting her gaze downwards.

"So it's…"

"Yes, it's exactly as it seems." Aigis said, looking up at me "I- it's honmei chocolate, and… I have to say this…" she sighed, then looked up at me with a determined look on her face, although I could detect some worry in her eyes. "I… I like you, Minato-kun." she said, as her face regained that deep crimson hue that I was so familiar with.

My mind went numb for what seemed like an eternity. Then, a million thoughts came crashing down on my poor psyche. "_Did she just confess to me!? What the hell?? But… who? What? When?_" After a few minutes with a shocked look plastered on my face, I managed to reorganize my thoughts to get a question out. "What..? B- but then why did you-" I began to ask.

"You mean when I stormed out of your house a few days ago?" Aigis asked quietly. I was still too stunned to manage a proper reply, so I did what I could and dumbly nodded my head.

"Minato-kun… I like you. A lot." My blonde haired friend sighed. "So much so that when you told me about your dream, I felt angry… no, I hated myself because you already confirmed how you felt by then, and yet I didn't. And I was scared that I wouldn't be able to give you a proper reply… so I freaked out and acted without thinking…" she murmured, looking down.

"But during these past few days I decided that I wouldn't run away from the question anymore." Aigis continued. "I calmed myself and decided to think things through. And in the end… I knew that when you decided to confess to me today, I would be able to respond to your feelings with my own."

"Wait, how did you…"

"How did I know?" Aigis chuckled. "Minato-kun, I know you too well. Valentine's Day is a day completely dedicated to romance and relationships... I figured if you were going to tell me how you felt about me, it'd be today." she said, smiling at me softly.

"Well… that was the plan…" I said, laughing embarrassedly at how easily she had read me.

"…So how do you feel about me?" Aigis asked nervously after a few seconds.

I desperately wanted to let her know how much she meant to me, but I didn't want to say anything considering that I'd probably screw it up in my shocked state. Not that my voice was working too well either, and the blowing wind was practically echoing in my empty mind. Thankfully, my subconscious was way ahead of me, because all of a sudden my arms shot out and pulled Aigis into a powerful embrace. "_That works…_" I thought to myself.

"Ah…" Aigis said, gasping in surprise. Then, to my surprise, I felt her nuzzle up against my shoulder. "Well… actions do speak louder than words." she whispered in my ear.

After a few minutes of silent hugging, I released Aigis from my grasp and blushed when I saw the gentle smile on her face. "So… what now?" I asked nervously.

"I… don't know." Aigis laughed. "Should we hang out like usual?"

"Hang out as friends? Or do you mean we should go on a date?"

Aigis' face became slightly flushed when she heard my question, but looked up at me and smiled shortly after. "Whatever works for you." she replied.

"Uh… okay." I said, feeling my face heat up from her response. "Want to go eat some takoyaki at Iwatodai?"

"Sure." Aigis replied as we both got up.

We walked together to the station, where finally, the enormity of what just happened finally hit me. "_Holy crap. AIGIS LIKES ME!_" I cheered mentally, slightly blushing at the thought. "_Hmm… should I hold her hand..? Or is it too soon?_" I wondered, mulling the thought over. If I held her hand and she didn't mind, super awesomeness! But if she got scared or upset, that wouldn't be good for our budding relationship… but what would she think if I didn't? Would she take that as a sign of disinterest? I grumbled as the chaotic cloud of thoughts bounced around in my mind.

After a few minutes of speculating, the train still hadn't arrived yet, and I finally figured, "Eh, let's go for it." So, I slowly inched my hand closer and closer to Aigis' until I was finally able to summon up the courage to lock her fingers in mine. "_And now, for her reaction…_" I thought.

I was half expecting Aigis to jerk her hand away, or look at me with a surprised look, or gasp, at the very least. But strangely, she did none of those things. She didn't jerk her hand away, she didn't have the slightest hint of surprise in her eyes, and she didn't even make a single noise. Her real reaction to my semi-bold move caught me off guard: I felt her grip my hand tightly, she looked up at me with a deep blush on her face and said:

"I was waiting for that... Minato-kun." she said, smiling softly at me.

I could have died a happy man at that moment. She looked so cute at that moment, and her reaction was so totally unexpected that it just made her seem so much more… so. I just couldn't describe the mix of joy, surprise and affection towards the sweet girl that I felt at that moment. I just knew that… well, I really didn't know what I felt, but damn, it felt GOOD. And kind of fuzzy.

"You weren't expecting that, were you?" Aigis asked, smiling gently at me.

"No, no I wasn't." I laughed. "Still, it was… a nice reaction."

"That's good."

We stood there, grinning like idiots who had just heard a lame joke and thought it was funny. We didn't snap out of our little trance until the train clattered into the station a few minutes later.

"We should probably get on…" I said quickly.

"Oh… right." Aigis murmured, still holding on to my hand tightly. As we walked onto the train, I could see that there weren't any two seats together that weren't occupied, so we wound up standing together.

"Are you sure you don't want to sit?" I asked Aigis, gesturing to the empty seat in front of me. "You must be tired from all that walking."

"No, it's all right. I'm fine." Aigis replied, smiling. "Besides, I'd rather stand beside you. It's easier to keep holding hands that way." she continued, her face getting redder after every word.

"But you're right… I do feel tired." she yawned a few seconds later. "Can… can I rest my head on your shoulder for a little while?" she asked embarrassedly. "I-I mean, if you don't want to, that's-"

"Go ahead. I don't mind." I murmured, lightly pushing her head so that it rested on my shoulder. "I'll wake you up when we get to the station."

"…Thanks." she murmured, slightly blushing as she nuzzled up against my shoulder again.

She really must have been tired, because a few minutes later I began to hear the sound of her slight snoring and could feel her slowly breathing against my cheek. "_God she looks too cute when she's asleep. In a completely non-perverted way. Away with you, evil thoughts._" I scolded myself mentally, but then blushed a little when my next thought popped into my mind. "_Uh… are we just dating? Or are we boyfriend-girlfriend..? Or is it too early for me to be thinking of these things…_" I wondered, shaking my head in confusion.

My mental self-torture was interrupted when I felt Aigis' fingers slip away from my hand, and felt her arms tighten around the arm which she had been leaning against. "Mmm…" she mumbled as she nuzzled against my now trapped limb. I could tell she was still asleep since her breathing was still relatively calm and I didn't feel any extra warmth that would have otherwise radiated from her blushing face.

"_She certainly likes to cuddle in her sleep…_" I though, my face warming up a little from her affectionate gesture, even if there was nothing much behind it. "_Maybe I should wake her up…_" I wondered, mulling the idea over in my head. Then I saw how peaceful she looked, sleeping against my arm, breathing so softly I could barely hear it above the clatter of the train, and I sighed. "_She looks so peaceful when she's asleep… and I'd be a heartless bastard to wake her up now. Five more minutes won't kill me._" I decided, smiling gently at Aigis, who had a dreamlike smile on her face as she slept.

The train rattled onwards for about eight more minutes until, with some difficulty, I could see Iwatodai Station coming up in the distance. "_Phew… only a few more minutes until we arrive._" I sighed in relief. "_Being a human pillow while standing up is hard work…_" I grumbled mentally. "_But… it's totally worth it._" I smiled, leaning my head against Aigis' for a little bit. My shoulder would probably be sore after we got off the train, but the chance to be this close to Aigis was something that I really didn't want to pass up.

"We have now arrived at Iwatodai Station." the loudspeaker buzzed as the train slowed to a stop a few minutes later. "All passengers getting off the train please be aware of the people coming onto the train. Thank you."

"Ai-chan, come on. We're here." I said, shaking her shoulder lightly.

"Mmm… five more minutes…" Aigis mumbled in reply.

I couldn't help laughing at her response. It was just too cute! "Come on, wake up." I said, shaking her shoulder a little harder.

"Mmm… ah… Minato-kun." Aigis said in surprise when she woke up. "Oh, I must have fallen asleep. Sorry." she apologized quickly. Then she realized that she was snuggling against my arm, and her face turned bright crimson. "Oh my god! Oh no, I'm so sorry!" she said, quickly releasing my arm.

"It's all right. I… really didn't mind." I said, blushing as I responded.

We quickly got off the train, then began the relatively short trek to the Iwatodai Strip Mall.

"Is your shoulder sore?" Aigis asked me suddenly.

"Well, yeah… but it's all right, don't sweat it." I replied. "Besides, I… kind of liked having you so close to me." I said quietly as my face heated up again.

"Well… sleeping on your shoulder was a little different than falling asleep on my bed…" she laughed.

"How so? Other than the fact that you were standing up and I was your pillow, of course." I asked, smiling a little.

"W-well… it wasn't so much the experience as opposed to how it felt… It was warm of course, but I felt more secure for some reason…" Aigis mumbled, blushing.

"Well, it wasn't the first time you latched onto my arm in your sleep." I chuckled. "Remember the first time I went over to your house?"

"Oh, that's right… the night where we fell asleep together watching Haruhi…" Aigis said, smiling.

We arrived at the takoyaki shop a few minutes later, where the fragrant smell of cooking octopus and seasonings filled the air. After we bought some, we sat down together at a nearby bench.

"How do you eat this?" Aigis asked me, eyeing the takoyaki curiously.

"You've never tried this… are you serious?" I asked incredulously.

"I've seen the shop when we walk home, but I never thought of coming here"

"Okay then…" I sighed as I got a piece of takoyaki on a stick. "Open wide."

Aigis looked at me curiously as I held up the hot piece of food to her. Then she realized what I was doing and her face immediately became flushed. "O-oh, okay." she stammered, opening her mouth. I put the piece of takoyaki in her mouth, and I chuckled as I watched her carefully chew on the piece of fried octopus.

"So how is it?" I asked after she swallowed.

"It's delicious!" Aigis said with sparkles in her eyes.

"Everything that's fried is delicious." I laughed.

Between the two of us, we quickly devoured the entire box of takoyaki in fifteen minutes flat. I knew that Aigis enjoyed eating it, so I secretly let her have most of the takoyaki, which she wolfed down without a second though, much to my amusement.

"Oh, that was so good!" Aigis said contently as she put down the toothpick she had used to eat. "I'm stuffed!" she laughed.

Since we really didn't feel like moving around yet, we decided to chat a little bit. We mostly talked about what we had done in the two days of our misunderstanding, and of other topics, but eventually I gathered enough courage to the question that had been bugging me since she had confessed to me earlier.

"Uhm… can I ask you a serious question?" I asked nervously.

"Sure, what is it, Minato-kun?"

I breathed in deeply and prepared myself for what I was about to ask. "Uh… what exactly is it about me that you like?" I finally managed to ask after a few seconds.

A surprised expression quickly spread across Aigis' face when she heard my question. "Uh… I'm sorry, Minato-kun… I-I don't know how to answer that… I'm sorry…" she apologized, looking away.

"Ah… it's all right. Don't worry about it." I replied, trying my damnedest to mask the disappointment I felt. An awkward silence filled the air for a brief moment as we both looked down embarrassedly. I tried to think of something to say, but the smell of the cooking takoyaki and the sound of cars driving passing by clouded my thoughts. Finally, Aigis broke the silence with another question that had been bugging me for a while.

"Are we just dating..? Or are we boyfriend and girlfriend or what..?" she asked me in a low voice.

"Honestly? I don't know." I sighed.

"What do you mean, Minato-kun?" my blonde haired companion asked me.

"I mean… well, you see… I haven't had a girlfriend before, so I really wouldn't know…" I mumbled dejectedly.

"What!?" Aigis shouted incredulously. "A-Are you serious!? Minato-kun, that… that's impossible!" she shouted, grabbing me by my shoulders.

Aigis' reaction surprised me, if it didn't scare the living hell out of me. A few moments after her unexpected outburst, I was able to gather my wits enough in order to continue. "I've never had a girlfriend before… is that so wrong?" I asked slowly, looking into Aigis' clear blue eyes, which currently shone with the shock and bewilderment that I assumed she was feeling.

"I-it's not wrong but… how is it possible… how could have not had a girlfriend before!?" Aigis began shouting again. "You're so smart, and funny, and kind, and sweet, and charming and kind and handsome, how on earth is it possible that someone like you-" Aigis paused, realizing what she had just shouted at me. "Oh… well, I guess that answers your question from before…" Aigis laughed embarrassedly.

"I guess it does…" I replied, a slight smile spreading across my face.

"… Is that really true though?" she asked, staring into my eyes. "You… really haven't had a girlfriend before?"

"Yeah, it's true…" I said, scratching the back of my head. "But then that makes you special, doesn't it?"

"I guess so… so what about you? What do you like about me?" Aigis asked as we rose to walk home.

"I knew this was coming." I laughed. "Well, you responded to my question, so I guess it's only fair that I do the same…" I said, rubbing the back of my neck nervously.

"Let's see…" I began a few minutes later. "I really like your smile, and I like how cute you look when you're blushing, and how you like to squeeze my arm when you fall asleep on my shoulder… and I also think it's pretty cool how you managed to learn fifteen years' worth of school material in only a few months, and… uh…" I paused for a brief moment as a slight breeze blew past me. "I also like how honest you are, and also how caring you can be… oh, and I also like how awesome your cooking is." I said, chuckling at my last comment. "And… that's everything that I can think of off the top of my head."

"T-that's… I, um…" Aigis stammered, looking down with a completely red face. "I'm happy to hear that…"

We continued to chat as we slowly walked home, despite the fact that it was already 8 p.m. and Yukari was probably going to slit my throat for being so late. As we walked together under the darkening sky, I noticed that Aigis had this look in her eyes like something was bothering her. "_I can't just sit… well, walk here and just ignore this! As her… uh, boyfriend, it's my duty to find out what's wrong!_" I told myself, clenching my fist and gathering my courage. However, just as I was about to ask Aigis what was bothering her, she suddenly stopped walking.

"M-Minato… kun… can I ask you something?" she asked me quietly in a quivering voice. "I-it's something that's been bothering me a lot…"

I blinked in confusion and turned around to face my blonde haired companion as the street lights flickered on. "Sure, Ai-chan. What's wrong?"

I was expecting her ask a simple question, like "When should we have our first date?" or "Do you want to go somewhere with me?", nothing too complicated. However, the words that next came out of her mouth completely caught me off guard.

"I-is… is it right for me to be your girlfriend..?"

I felt like my blood froze when I heard that question. I just felt like I had been drained of all my strength, like the cars rushing by could blow me over with the wind they whipped up. "_Did I… hear that right..? But… why… huh… wha??_" were the only thoughts that were able to register themselves into the chaotic mess that was my mind. "W-what the hell are you talking about!?" I finally managed to ask a few seconds later.

"I… it's… I don't know, but… well, you know my situation, and there's so much that I still don't know… and I'm scared that I can't be a good girlfriend for you… a-and besides, don't you want someone more normal, someone who... wouldn't be a burden to you..?" she asked quietly as tears streamed down her eyes.

All I could do was stare in silent shock as Aigis stood there, quivering as tears began cascading down her cheeks. Here was this poor, innocent girl who knew so little about the world, who had gained me as a friend on her first day of school and had slowly grown more and more attached to me until her strong attachment became an even stronger affection, who felt such a powerful attraction towards me, but was so scared to follow through with it because she felt she would burden me with her social awkwardness… and I felt like a complete dumbass for not seeing her anxiety sooner.

I snapped out of my pointless stupor just as Aigis' heavy sobbing shook her body to the point that her knees buckled and she sank down onto the cold sidewalk. "_God, what the hell am I just standing here for!?_" I mentally shouted at myself. I immediately got down on my knees in front of her and grabbed her shoulders gently. "Ai-chan…" I murmured softly. "Come on, look at me."

Aigis continued to sob loudly and shook her head. "N- hic n-no, I ca-can't…"

"Come on…" I pleaded. "Here, look at me." I said, gently lifting her head until I could look her in the eyes. The clear blue of Aigis' beautiful eyes was clouded over from her heavy crying, and there were streaks running down her face from the tears.

"M-Minato-kun… p- hic please, stop… I don't want-"

"Ai-chan. You never were and never will be a burden to me." I said, firmly. "Please, believe me… I don't know where you got that idea, but please, don't do this to me…" I begged.

"D-doesn't it m-matter to you hic that… there's so much I don't know and can't do?" she asked, finally looking back at me.

"Of course not." I said, gently wiping away the tears in her eyes with my finger. "You can learn everything you want to later on, and I'll be happy to teach you anything you'll need help on. You don't have to worry about knowing how to do everything right now… we have time."

"O-okay…" Aigis said as her eyes began to glimmer. Maybe she was feeling hopeful, or maybe it was the fact that we were both kneeling underneath a streetlight. I don't know. "But… wouldn't you want to date someone normal?"

"Aigis… I already told you. You're not weird. You're just different." I said with a reassuring tone. "You're just like everyone else."

"No I'm not!" she shouted, her eyes flaring with frustration. "I… I…"

I sighed. This was getting me nowhere. "Two eyes…" I said in the middle of Aigis' little fit.

"Huh?" Aigis asked as a confused look spread across her features

I leaned in a little closer. "You have two eyes that are the loveliest shade of blue…"

"Soft, smooth skin…" I continued as I brushed my hand against her cheek.

"Silky blonde hair…" I murmured as I slowly twirled a lock of her hair around my finger, then letting it unravel as I pulled my hand back.

"Two ears, a nose, a mouth, two arms, two legs, two hands, two feet and everything else…" I said, taking her hand in mine as I quickly finished my analysis. "I don't know about you, but from where I'm sitting… well, kneeling, I suppose," I said, laughing, "you look pretty normal."

Aigis' already red face turned crimson when she heard my last comment. "But… that's only appearance…" she protested quietly.

"Ai-chan…" I said, brushing Aigis' hair to the side. "You make your own choices. You think, you feel, you learn and you know. When you're happy, you smile. When you're sad, you frown or you cry. When I do something stupid, you laugh and when I tease you, you blush. No matter what you may think, you are a normal person. So much so that our classmates just think that you're extremely shy except when you're around me." I finished as I gently brushed my hand against her cheek. "So don't feel like you're weird, because you're not, okay?" I asked softly.

She said nothing, but slowly wrapped her arms around me and pulled me into a gentle hug. "That's another thing I like about you… you always know what to say to cheer me up." she whispered softly into my ear.

"… Uh, Ai-chan?" I asked a few seconds later.

"Mmm?"

" Do you think we can stand up now? The sidewalk's starting to dig into my knees." I said, chuckling softly.

"O-oh, sorry." Aigis apologized, helping to my feet with a slight blush on her face. "Do you need to sit down?" she asked with concern in her eyes.

"Nah, I can walk it off." I replied cheerily. To prove that I was fine, I kicked out my legs… and accidentally banged my foot against the base of the streetlight that we were standing under. "OW! Ow ow ow." I shouted, holding my poor foot and wincing in pain.

"… Maybe I should sit down…" I murmured a few seconds later. I looked up and saw that Aigis had a small grin on her face. "Yeah, yeah. I look like a total idiot, don't I?" I asked as I limped to a nearby bench.

"No…" she said as she plopped down beside me, "You looked pretty funny."

"Yeah, that makes me feel so much better." I said, rolling my eyes teasingly.

"What? It's less demeaning." my blonde haired companion laughed.

I was too happy to be angry with her, so I just joined in her laughter, which, when I thought about it, was completely justified.

"So… um… yeah… about earlier…" I began after a short period of silence, "I probably sounded really sappy, but… well, I don't know, it was the best that I could think of to try and cheer you up…" I mumbled, casting my eyes downward and looking at the concrete beneath my feet.

"It wasn't what you said…" Aigis said, smiling warmly at me, "so much as the intent, the… the emotion behind it… I-I don't know if I'm wording this right, but… well, just what you said with the intention of making me feel better was already enough…"

"So… uh… I, uh…" Aigis began again, "should… are we… are we dating..? Boyfriend-girlfriend..? I really don't know…" my blonde haired friend sighed, staring at her feet.

"I think… we're boyfriend and girlfriend…" I replied a few seconds later, feeling my cheeks warm up immensely.

"Isn't that skipping first base though?" Aigis asked, looking up at me with some uncertainty in her eyes.

"Heh, never knew there were still people who use the "bases of a relationship" anymore." I chuckled softly. "But… I think dating is for the boy and the girl to get to know each other a little better, and then the boyfriend-girlfriend stage comes when both sides know that they feel a deep affection for each other, so… well, we already know a lot about each other, and we also confirmed that we have strong feelings for each other, so… yeah…" I said, my voice trailing off as I my train of thought slowed to a stop.

"So then… you're my boyfriend now?" Aigis asked softly after a few moments passed.

"I… guess so." I said as my face heated up as I replied. "I think we should go, it's getting late." I said, rising from the bench, holding out my hand to my girlfriend. "Come on."

"Ah… okay." She replied with a slight blush on her face. She gingerly took my hand and locked fingers with me as she got up.

As we walked down the road, I couldn't help but relish how soft and velvety her skin felt as I brushed my thumb against hers. Also, despite the fact that it was somewhat cold outside, her hand was quite warm, and I also took into account how small and delicate her hand was in mine.

"_You know… if I just arbitrarily decided to go back in time to this morning and tell myself everything that Aigis would end up as my girlfriend tonight, I'd probably laugh in my own face._" I thought, chuckling to myself. "_But then again, if the future and past me met, it would probably tear a massive hole in the time-space continuum and the whole universe would collapse on itself, so… yeah… Still, this is nice. Aigis and I are walking together, holding hands, she's my girlfriend now-_"

My train of thought screeched to a sudden halt after that. "_Holy crap. Aigis is my girlfriend now. Ho. Lee. CRAP._" I thought, my cheeks becoming considerably warmer as that fact sank in. "_I wonder if her dad will kill me though… bah! What do I care!? The power of love conquers all!! Wow, I must still be high off her confession._" I thought, laughing at my silliness. "_Seriously though, I'm not giving her up._" I thought, gushing determination.

"Uh… Minato-kun? You're staring at me, uh, really intensely… are you all right?" Aigis asked, snapping me out of my daydream.

"Oh, uh, no no no, everything's fine. Sorry about that." I apologized, kicking myself mentally for doing something so stupid.

"It's all right. I don't mind." Aigis said, chuckling softly. "It's okay if you stare at me." she continued, blushing slightly.

"Oh... thanks."

We continued to walk in silence, as we both (I assume) enjoyed the warmth of each other's company and hands. A few minutes later, we arrived in front of Aigis' house, much to my disappointment. "Well, we're here…" I sighed, giving my blonde haired companion's hand one last squeeze before I released it.

"Yeah…" Aigis sighed, looking down sadly.

"…"

"…"

"…"

"… Uh… can I ask you something really quick, before you go?" Aigis asked as we got to the front door of her house.

"Sure. What is it?" I asked, nervously half-expecting her to bring up something unexpected again… if that made any sense. I just didn't want to deal with another weird situation, dammit.

"Well… how do… how can I be a good girlfriend?"

"_Goddamnit. I already said I didn't want to deal with a question like this. WHY DO YOU SPURN ME!?_" I thought, groaning mentally.

"Wait!" Aigis shouted after seeing my reaction, since apparently my mental griping was showing on my face. "I… that's not exactly what I meant… I do want to be a good girlfriend to you, but… I guess what I'm trying to find out right now is… how can I make you happy? You know, as your girlfriend…" she finished as her voice trailed off.

"Oh… well, that's an easier question to answer." I said, sighing with relief. I slowly approached her, faking a serious expression as I placed my hand on her shoulder and looked straight into her eyes.

"You want to know what you need to do to make me happy?" I asked in a dark, ominous tone.

Judging from the slight panic in her eyes as she nodded, I could tell that Aigis had fallen for my acting, hook, line and sinker. Not that I took any pleasure in seeing her panic, but yeah, it was nice to know that my acting skills hadn't dulled too much since middle school.

"All I want…" I said, quickly wrapping my arms around my girlfriend for a quick hug, "Is for you to be yourself. That's it." I whispered into her ear.

The light that was coming out of the window of Aigis' house revealed to me a darkening blush on her face as I released her from my embrace. "But… how's that going to make you happy? I don't… understand…" Aigis protested, looking up at me with confusion in her eyes.

"Well, uh… how do I explain this..?" I murmured, scratching the back of my head. "Well, you know how much you mean to me right?"

"I have a pretty good idea, yeah." Aigis replied, smiling softly.

"Well, uh… it makes me really happy when I get to spend time with you so… uh… wow, this is a lot harder than it should be." I laughed, embarrassed at how hard it was to make the words I wanted to say come out right. "I-it's just that… uhm… for me, I'm happiest when I'm together with you, so… being able to spend my time with the Ai-chan that I know and… really like, nothing could make me happier, you know..? If that made any sense at all…" I murmured, sighing in relief. "_Wow, that was hard. It didn't come out as well I would have liked, but at least I got the message through._" I thought, patting myself on my back in my mind.

"So… that's how much you like me?" Aigis asked, interrupting my thoughts. As I met her gaze, I saw, much to my bewilderment, that her eyes were glassed over, and she had this weird smile on her face. And of course, as in every situation I have been placed in where someone started to cry because of me, I began to freak out.

"_Oh dear god. She hates me, she hates me, shehatesme shehatesme shehatesme-_"

"Minato-kun…" Aigis said softly, her voice somehow driving away my panic as if it were a hand sweeping away cobwebs. I looked back up to see that even though there were tears dripping down her cheeks, she had a warm smile on her face and a soft look in her eyes that radiated adoration, joy and… something much deeper that I couldn't really describe myself.

"I… I don't understand why I'm crying when I feel so happy." she giggled softly as she wiped the tears from her eyes. "I don't know how to describe this, but… I just feel so amazingly happy and warm and fuzzy and… I want to show you how happy you've made me feel. So… can you close your eyes, just one more time..?" she pleaded, looking up at me with those beautiful blue eyes of hers.

"Of course." I said, blushing as I shut my eyes. I stood there silently, feeling the warm tickle of her breath on my cheek as she drew nearer to my face. After what seemed like an eternity, her breathing stopped as she inhaled deeply.

I could feel the warmth of her face as she drew closer…

Closer…

Closer…

Until finally, in one swift motion…

She placed her hands on my cheeks…

Turned my head…

And pressed her lips to mine.

Her lips were soft, they were warm, they were smooth, they were… for lack of a better adjective… simply perfect. My eyes snapped open in shock as I looked down to see if what was happening before me was real. And yet, it was there, undeniably there. This girl, who had found her place by my side as one of my best and closest friends, who had just become by girlfriend a few hours earlier, who I had met only a few months ago and yet found myself spending nearly every hour of my day with, whose sweet innocence, warm smile and cheerful but curious disposition had charmed me from the moment I met her, who I adored with all of my heart…

Was here… in front of me… sharing her first kiss… my first kiss… our first kiss… in a declaration of her deep affection for me.

I lost myself as wave after wave of passion washed over my psyche and I lost myself in the kiss. My teenage hormones soon took over, driving me to wrap my arms around her waist as her arms snaked around my neck at the same time, and we deepened our kiss, our tongues gently wrestling with each other as we continued to lose ourselves in our moment of blissful intimacy… and for a moment, it seemed like we were the only two beings that existed in the entire world.

But all good things must come to an end, and after what seemed to be an eternity and a half, we parted, gasping for breath as we stared into each other's eyes. As I gazed into those deep pools of shining azure, I felt… complete.

"So… how was it..?" Aigis asked shyly after she had caught her breath. "I- I mean, it was probably totally unexpected for you, but… it was the only way I could think of to show you how happy you made me…" she said, looking down as her already heavy blush got darker.

"It was… well, it was… too good for words, actually." I laughed, ruffling my girlfriend's golden hair fondly.

"..."

"..."

"So… uh… I think I better go…" I murmured, checking my watch and found, to my horror, that it was already 11 p.m. "Oh dear god, Yukari-chan's going to kill me." I groaned, running my hand through my hair.

"Wait." Aigis said, grabbing my sleeve as I turned to go. I turned around, and earned myself a kiss on the cheek from my blonde haired companion. "Good night, Minato-kun." Aigis murmured, her golden locks hiding her eyes as she began to blush insanely.

"Good night, Ai-chan." I said, leaning in and giving her a quick kiss on her forehead. "I'll see you tomorrow." I grinned, waving at her as I trudged down the lonely sidewalk back to my home.

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

"Where the hell have you been!?" Yukari shouted from the couch as I opened the front door of our home. The aforementioned brunette was sitting on the couch, carefully painting her toenails in a pink tank top and light blue shorts. "Do you have any idea how late it is!? I oughtta call dad and- hey, why's your face red?" Yukari asked in a dangerous tone as she looked up at me. "What did you do with Aigis!? You better tell me right now, or-"

"We kissed, okay?" I replied flatly as I took my shoes off. "Ai-chan and I went to the park, she confessed to me, I accepted, we went for some takoyaki at Iwatodai, this happened and that happened and then we… kissed." I finished as my face heated up.

The sound of a nail polish bottle hitting the floor seemed to echo throughout the house. Now, there are only two things that ever get Yukari to drop her nail polish in the middle of painting her nails. Either someone pissed her off really badly, or she had heard some really good news.

And judging from the look on her face, I'd definitely say it's the latter.

Before I could even blink, a pink and blue blur leapt over the couch, sped towards me and then hug-tackled me with full force, knocking me to the ground. "Oh my god! Minato-kun, I'm so happy for you!" she squealed, smothering me as she almost squeezed the life out of me.

"Yukari… can't... breathe…" I choked, gasping for breath. "Air… I need air…"

"Woops. Sorry." Yukari apologized as she got off me and helped me to my feet. "But you know, I'm actually a little jealous of you." Yukari sighed.

"Huh? Why's that?"

"Because you've found someone you really like and I haven't." Yukari pouted. "It's not fair…" she wailed.

"Yukari-chan, you're scaring me…" I said, backing away slowly.

"Stop it, you…" she groaned, reaching over and ruffling my hair a little. "Ah… my Minato-kun has finally gotten a girlfriend… they grow up so fast…"Yukari sighed, feigning a depressed look on her face. "But seriously, I'm really happy for you. Congratulations." Yukari said, smiling genuinely. "Now get to bed before I call Dad and tell him how late you were out." she said, perking up as she whacked me on my head with the handbook that was in her shorts' pocket.

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

"Well, today was certainly eventful." I yawned as I plopped onto my bed. I pondered how to proceed in my new relationship with Aigis. Where should I take her for our first date? Should we spend more time together or are we spending enough time together already? What's her favorite food? Is she allergic to anything?

As all these questions rushed into my mind, the memory of our kiss suddenly popped back into my mind, blowing all of my other thoughts out of the water, so to speak. "_Meh. I'll think about it later_..." I thought to myself, shutting off the lights as I relished the memory of our intimate moment before I drifted off to sleep.

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Holy mother of cheese that was a long chapter. Well, Aigis and Minato have finally hooked up! What waits for them in the future as their relationship blooms? Only one thing is for sure, and that is that their future is uncertain! What will Minato do for their first date? How will it go? Find out in chapter 9 of Let Me Be with You, coming eventually!

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Okay. Longest. Chapter. EVER. My god, my fingers are going to be sore for the next few days -_-. Okay, I know I say this every chapter, but for the love of god, I poured a lot to freaking time and effort into this chapter. This is my first time ever typing an intimate romantic moment and my first time typing a confession, so please, please, PLEASE, if you have a soul PLEASE review because I really, really, REALLY want feedback on this chapter, if not any of the others.

Oh, and special thanks to Lesser Ninja for helping me out with the dialogue and stuff. Thanks dude! I really appreciate it! =D


	9. The Next Day

(A/N): Greetings, one and all! Welcome to chapter 9 of Let Me Be with You! Really sorry about the late update, but being buried under a pile of work does impede my progress -_-'. Anyway, here's chapter 9!

Oh, on a side note, I'm thinking of shortening my chapters just a little bit so I can update more often and the comedy bits don't drown in the romance anymore. Just an FYI. =D

**Let Me Be with You**

**Chapter 9: The Day After**

"Ah… I'm up early…" I yawned, stretching my arms as I sat up in bed. "I actually have time to get ready for once."

I usually woke up thirty minutes before the 6:40 train from Iwatodai station arrived to take students and other passengers to Port Island, which was a fifteen minute ride. This usually allowed me to get to school half an hour early so that I could have some time to mess around before class started. However, I was surprised to find that I had woken up half an hour earlier than I usually did, which gave me a full hour to do whatever I wanted before I had to leave.

The first thing I took care of was taking a shower, which I usually had to finish within ten minutes. Today, however, I took my time, and wound up getting out of the shower after a full twenty minutes of washing, scrubbing and whatnot. After changing into my school uniform, I was feeling particularly generous, so I decided to make breakfast for me and Yukari.

"Wonder why I feel so good today…" I murmured to myself as I cracked an egg open over the frying pan which was on the stove. "What happened yesterday..? Well, Aigis and I made up, we went to the park…" I mumbled to myself, then stopped as my fatigue released its grip on my mind and all of yesterday's events flooded back into my head. "Holy… Ai-chan is my girlfriend…" I mumbled, blushing as I recalled the particularly passionate kiss we had shared last night. "Man, for someone who was unconscious for such a long time, she kisses really well… wait, what the hell am I saying!?" I said, scolding myself by slamming down my fist… right onto the edge of the burner that I had been pre-heating for the tea.

It took a split second to realize what I had just done, and another split second for the pain to shoot through my hand. "FUCK!" I shouted, writhing as I squeezed my wrist in pain. "Oh damn, I need to soak this, get the burn cream… oh god, where the hell's the burn cream!?" I groaned, tearing through the drawers in my desperate search for the aforementioned ointment with my good hand. I must have been making a bit of noise, because right as I found the burn cream, Yukari walked out of the hallway, still half asleep, from the looks of it.

"Minato-kun, what the heck are you doing?" the brunette mumbled sleepily as she rubbed her eyes. "It's too early for this… and what smells good?" she asked, peering over my shoulder.

"Scrambled eggs." I said as I applied the cream to my singed hand. "Oh thank god, there aren't any burn marks." I said, sighing in relief. As the smell of cooking egg wafted into my nose, I noticed something that I probably shouldn't have. "Uh, Yukari? Your nightgown's crooked and it's showing your bra…" I murmured, looking away quickly.

"Again!? Aw damn it…" Yukari groaned, readjusting her nightwear. "I knew this was too big for me…"

Here's the funny thing… over the years, we have had random encounters in the house where either me, Yukari, or the both of us either had nothing but our underwear on, or had a noticeable part of our undergarments showing. As a result, we have both gotten so used to such encounters that we really didn't give a damn any more, although we tried to avoid such situations for decency's sake. So long as neither party stared at the other, no one would get hurt. Not that I could ever hurt Yukari-chan, but she could definitely give me a knuckle sandwich if she felt like it, so I at least had to keep my end of the deal. Either way, we could tolerate briefly seeing each other in minimal clothing so long as there was no gawking and the onlooker looked away within five seconds.

"Still happy after your little date with Aigis last night?" Yukari asked as I went back to attend to our cooking breakfast.

"Of course! Why do you think I'm cooking breakfast right now?" I laughed, giving the eggs one last shake-stir before I turned off the heat on the burner. "But I don't really think it was a real "date", so to speak." I said as I divided the scrambled eggs and put them on two separate plates.

"Well then, why don't you take her on a so-called "real" date then?" Yukari asked as she began eating.

"How about because I've never been on a date before and I have no idea what the hell I'm doing?" I replied as I placed two cups of hot tea on the dining table. "I don't want to screw this up, I really like Ai-chan and I want our first date to be as perfect as possible-"

"Minato-kun, you're thinking too much." Yukari sighed. "Aigis really likes you too, and I'm sure she'll be happy with whatever you decide to do. So don't sweat it, geez…" she finished, lightly smacking me on the head.

"Huh… thanks, I needed that." I laughed, beginning to eat my breakfast as well. "So what about you? Find anyone at school that you might like?" I teased, grinning mischievously at my Yukari.

"Nope." Yukari said flatly as she finished up the last bits of her breakfast.

"No one. You're not interested in a single guy in our school?" I asked incredulously. "Wow, you sure are picky." I laughed.

"Yes, yes I am." Yukari replied, rolling her eyes as she pinched my cheek. "I'm going to get ready for school, so no more questions." she huffed as she sauntered back to her room.

I had just finished washing our plates when I heard the doorbell ring. Wondering who the hell would want to bother us this early in the morning, I stormed over to the front door, threw it open… and was more than surprised to see Aigis standing outside in her cute, school-uniformed glory.

"Uh… hey."

"G-good morning…"

"…"

"…"

"So, uh… what's up?" I asked, failing to mask the confusion in my voice.

"Oh, well I just… w-well, I was wondering… do you think we can walk to school together..? I-I mean, like, the entire way, instead of meeting up at the station like we normally do…" Aigis murmured as she looked down in embarrassment. "I-I mean, if you don't want to, that's-"

"I'd be happy to." I interrupted, grinning as she looked up at me with her eyes wide with joy. "Let me just grab my bags and we can go."

"Yay!" Aigis cheered, then quickly covered her mouth as a deep blush spread across her face. "I-I'm sorry, I-"

"That was cute…" I said, blushing as I grabbed my schoolbag. "Oh, one second. HEY YUKARI! I'M LEAVING WITH AI-CHAN TO GO TO SCHOOL OKAY!?" I hollered over my shoulder down the hallway.

"FINE!" Yukari shouted from her bedroom. "BUT IF YOU TWO CUT SCHOOL TO GO ON A DATE I'LL CRACK YOUR HEAD OPEN!"

"I'm sure you will!" I laughed as I walked out the front door with my girlfriend in hand.

"Um… Minato-kun?"

"Mhm?"

"Yesterday… wasn't a dream, was it?" Aigis asked softly. "I mean… all those things… really happened, right?"

"Yep." I replied shortly, taking her hand in mine. "Everything that happened yesterday was completely real."

"Oh, okay…" Aigis replied, blushing as she locked fingers with me.

* * *

"It's strange…" my blonde-haired companion said a few minutes later as we approached the station.

"What is?" I asked, peering at her over my shoulder.

"I-it's going to sound stupid…"

"Nothing you could ever say would sound stupid."

"A-all right…" Aigis mumbled, finally giving in to my curiosity. "It's just… I think it's a little weird, how happy I am from just holding your hand… I mean, it's just holding each other's hands together as we walk, but… it fills me with this incredible happiness that I just don't know how to describe… I probably sound really weird right now, right?" she said, laughing nervously.

Needless to say, her comment really caught me off guard. It was such a sweet, innocent statement, even if it was a bit clichéd, I could tell that she was trying her best to convey her feelings to me as clearly as she could. "Aw, come on. You don't sound weird…" I replied softly, squeezing her hand gently. "And besides, that feeling you get just shows how strong your feelings are for me. So in all actuality, that feeling is a good thing." I continued, smiling at her.

"Really..?"

"Yeah. It's perfectly normal in a boyfriend-girlfriend relationship, although something like that is a little rare around our age." I replied, chuckling softly.

"Is that so… that's a shame…"

"It really is…"

We had finally arrived at the station, so I decided to buy coffee for me and Aigis since we were early. After waiting for about seven minutes the 6:40 train finally pulled into the station, and we entered the semi-packed train car, half of its occupants being other Gekkoukan High School students.

"Morning Minato!" a voice shouted from behind me. I turned around to see a certain Tomochika Kenji sauntering over to where Aigis and I were standing. "How's it going? Getting chummy with Aigis-san as usual." he laughed. As he drew nearer, he seemed to notice that Aigis and I were holding hands, because his eyes grew twice their normal size and a devilish grin that I really didn't like spread across his face. "Ohoho! Holding hands? Minato, if I didn't know better, I'd say you two are-"

"A couple? What of it?" I said, glaring daggers at him as I spoke.

"Wow… you two? Seriously?"

Aigis nodded quietly, which wiped the grin off of Kenji's face entirely, which was replaced with a look of extreme shock.

"Wow… a lot of guys at school are going to be disappointed when they hear this…" Kenji sighed. "But what exactly do you see in this guy?" he asked, turning to my girlfriend.

The look on Aigis' face showed that she didn't really seem to get what Kenji meant when he asked what she saw in me. I, on the other hand, knew exactly what that question meant, and it really pissed me off. "Excuse me Ai-chan, can I talk to Kenji in private?" I asked, dragging the poor boy away by the collar before my blonde haired companion could respond.

"Now Kenji… You know you've been my friend for a while, right?" I asked in a sickeningly sweet tone.

"Yes…"

"And you know we can screw around with each other every now and then, right?"

"Yes…"

"Now, when you asked Ai-chan, my GIRLFRIEND, what she sees in me, you crossed a very sacred line." I continued as my voice darkened and killer intent began to radiate from my being. "Now, unless you want the entire school to know of your little crush on a certain Kanou Emiri-sensei, I suggest you drop the subject when we get back over to where my girlfriend is standing, all right?"

"Y-you wouldn't dare…" Kenji stammered, his face quickly paling to extreme whiteness.

"Oh, I can, and I will if you force my hand." I said, an evil grin spreading across my face. "I have connections in the School Newspaper, and believe you me, they would KILL to get their hands on a story like this. So it's your decision, okay..?"

I took Kenji's whimpering as a sign of compliance, so I walked back with my now zombified friend to where Aigis was patiently waiting, and I waved at her as I practically skipped back to the spot that I had been previously standing in. "So, what were you saying, Kenji?" I asked, shooting him a look that almost dared him to continue on his original topic.

"I, uh… n-nothing, just… c-congratulations!" he finally forced out, hurriedly scurrying away as a confused look appeared on Aigis' face.

"What was that all about?" she asked, turning to me as I took her hand in my grasp once again.

"Ai-chan, there are some things in this world that you are better off not knowing about… and this is one of those things." I said with a slightly mysterious tone mixed into my voice.

"Uh… okay." was my girlfriend's quick and confused reply.

* * *

"Why are people looking at us like that..?" Aigis asked as we walked into Gekkoukan High School. Apparently, Kenji had been busy with his cell phone, as we were getting odd glances and the occasional catcall as we walked together to our classroom.

"Well, Kenji probably texted all his friends about us being a couple, and so I'm guessing they started spreading all sorts of rumors about us…" I groaned. "I just hope people won't start harassing you…"

"Why would they do anything to either of us?" my blonde haired companion asked, looking at me questioningly. "What's wrong with us dating?"

"There's nothing wrong with it, it's just that… people get jealous, you know?"

"Oh, I see… that could be a problem then…" Aigis sighed.

"Yeah… hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, right?"

"I was just thinking the same thing!" Aigis smiled, chuckling at my little joke.

Our little chat was interrupted when Aikihiko came running out of nowhere, breathing heavily as he stopped in front of me. "Minato… glad I… found you…" he huffed, leaning against a nearby water fountain.

"What's up Akihiko-senpai?"

"Well first of all, congratulations to the both of you, since you ARE a couple now, right?" he asked, slowly catching his breath.

"Yes, we are a couple now. You aren't one of the people who are jealous of our relationship, are you?" Aigis asked, grabbing my hand defensively.

"No, no, no. I'm not jealous of you two," Akihiko laughed. "But actually, that's what I came to talk to you about." he continued, turning to me.

"It seems that a lot of the juniors here are interested in Aigis-san, some more so than others. There were even some seniors who were interested, but most of them lost interest after a while. Anyways, I heard from Shinji that there's a small group of students who formed a small fan club idolizing Aigis-san, and… disagree with your relationship, shall we say… And god knows what kind of crap they're going to pull, so… just watch your back man." Akihiko sighed, putting his hand on my shoulder. "Can't have you dying on me, now can I?"

"No sir. Thanks for the heads-up though, I appreciate it." I stated, grinning at my silver-haired senpai.

"No problem. Try not to get mauled too badly, okay?"

"All right, all right." I laughed as Akihiko walked away.

"… You have really good friends, Minato-kun…" Aigis said suddenly from beside me.

"That I do." I replied, tightening my grip on her hand. "What brought this up though?"

"I… don't know, actually." Aigis replied, laughing softly as we walked up the stairs together. "I just felt like saying it, I guess…"

As we walked into our classroom, we were met by one Iori Junpei, who currently had the biggest grin his face that rivaled the smile of the Cheshire Cat, and also had sparkles in his eyes, a fact that I found to be quite disturbing. "Uh… morning, Junpei…" I said, nervously eyeing him.

"YOU TWO HOOKED UP!?" he shouted into my face. "Dude, I totally saw this coming, but congrats, man! I mean, seriously, you two look good together, and-" he continued, shaking my shoulders excitedly.

"Hey. Don't make such a big fuss over it, geez." An all-too-familiar voice said from behind me. I looked over my shoulder to see that Yukari had finally arrived.

"Oh, Yukari-chan. You're here."

"Of course I'm here you dolt." Yukari replied sharply as she joined our little chat circle. "I was in the same train car as you, but you didn't see me because you and Aigis were too busy gazing into each other's eyes."

"Oh come on, we only did that for half of the train ride…"

"Anyways," Yukari continued, "You are going to stop harassing Minato-kun about his relationship Aigis or your ear comes off, okay?" she said, giving Junpei a look that would have made Hades wet himself.

"Y-yes ma'am." Junpei replied, shaking in fright.

"Good." Yukari said before she went to her desk and began reading another one of her books.

The relative tranquility of the classroom was interrupted five minutes later when the door slammed open and a certain red-haired student marched into the classroom. "Arisato-san, can I speak to you for a moment?" Mitsuru asked with a cold stare in her eyes.

"Uh… yes, Mitsuru-senpai." I said quickly as I got up from my seat.

"Yamada-san, come with us please." Mitsuru said without even turning around as she walked out into the hallway.

Aigis gave me a questioning look as we followed Mitsuru out the door, but I could only shrug in response as we both prepared ourselves for the worst.

"It has come to my attention that you have a girlfriend now." Mitsuru remarked sternly once we were outside the classroom. "Is this true!?" she demanded, jabbing a finger at me.

"Uh… yes… I'm his girlfriend…" Aigis said meekly as she walked up until she was standing beside me. "Is that going to be a problem?" she asked, quietly taking my hand in hers.

"Hmm…" Mitsuru mumbled as she began to study Aigis from every angle that is humanly accessible. After about three minutes of inspecting my girlfriend, Mitsuru stepped back, pulled out a folder from her school bag, and began sifting through the folder's contents.

"Hmm… I see… Hrm… Is that so…?" were the occasional comments that escaped from Mitsuru's mouth, which was pressed shut as she studied the papers she was browsing.

"Well…" Mitsuru announced about seven minutes later as she shut the folder she had been flipping through, "your record shows that you're quite an excellent student both academically and in merit." My red-haired senpai continued, turning to Aigis, who looked just as confused about our current situation as I was. "And since it seems that dating you won't bring down Arisato-san's grades… I approve." Mitsuru concluded, nodding at us in approval.

"Huh?" we asked at the same time, failing to see what Mitsuru was talking about.

"Oh, it's nothing." Mitsuru replied quickly as she put away the folder she had been sifting through. "I just wanted to be sure that whoever Minato-san's girlfriend was wouldn't interfere with his studies. But, your grades seem to be satisfactory, so I doubt you two will have any academic problems through the course of your relationship." Mitsuru concluded, flashing a brief smile at us. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to return to my classroom."

"Minato-kun? How does Mitsuru-senpai know what my grades are?" Aigis asked as our red-haired senpai hurried down the hall. "Is she some sort of stalker?"

"No, that's not it." I replied, laughing. "Her family practically owns the school since they donate so much money, so she probably has access to a bunch of semi-private information in the school."

"So she's rich?"

"Indeed she is."

"Oh, okay…" Aigis murmured, getting a look on her face like she was deep in thought.

"Hey, Ai-chan… since we don't have school tomorrow, I was wondering if-"

My question was interrupted as the morning bell sounded, which I felt like smashing since the question I was about to ask was really important. "Dammit…"

"I'm sorry, what was that?" Aigis asked as we sat down in our seats.

"Never mind, I'll ask you later…" I sighed, burying my head in my arms.

"Good morning everyone." Ms. Toriumi said as she walked in a few minutes later. "Take your seats please."

As the rest of the class took their seats, Ms. Toriumi glanced over at where Aigis and I were sitting, and motioned for us to come up to her desk.

"Now, I understand that the two of you are dating now, correct?" our teacher asked with a stern look on her face.

"_Great. Even the teachers know…_" I groaned mentally. "Yes, we are…" I responded dryly.

"Okay then…" Ms Toriumi sighed. "I'll allow you two to sit together for now, but if you start acting all lovey-dovey I will separate you, is that clear?"

"Why would we even do those kinds of things in class?" I asked, looking at my teacher questioningly.

"I wouldn't know, I'm just warning you…" she said, eyeing me warily.

"Okay then… I promise that we won't do anything." I replied before we hastily walked back to our desks.

"Um… what did she mean by "acting all lovey-dovey"?" Aigis asked quietly as Ms. Toriumi began lecturing.

"Well, you know… like flirting while she's teaching and that kind of stuff…" I replied nervously.

"Oh, okay…"

She must have been imagining what it would have been like for us to flirt in the middle of class, because a few seconds later I could have sworn that the temperature in the classroom suddenly rose a few degrees.

* * *

"Off to your little love nest, hmm?" Junpei asked as the lunch bell sounded. His short fit of laughter was cut off when Yukari took a firm hold of Junpei's shoulder.

"Leave him alone, will you?" Yukari said as her fingers dug into my friend's shirt, causing the poor boy to yelp in pain.

"Aw, come on. Aren't you the least bit worried that they might do something if they're alone on the roof together?" Junpei whined as made a futile attempt to free himself from Yukari's grasp.

"Not in the slightest." Yukari replied firmly. "Minato-kun would never even think of doing something indecent like that."

"But-"

"No buts!" Yukari said as she tightened her grip on Junpei's shoulder, which caused my poor friend to scream in pain. "And you're coming with me before you corrupt their minds any further." she declared as she dragged Junpei out of the classroom, ignoring his shrieks of agony as he was dragged across the floor.

"Okay then… shall we get going?" I said a few seconds later after I had recovered from the shock of what had just happened.

"Uh… sure."

"…"

"…"

"…"

"You really can't get used to that, huh?" Aigis asked as we walked out of the classroom together.

"Yukari and Junpei? No, you really can't…" I replied, laughing a little bit. "Don't get any wrong ideas though, because Yukari really does hate it when Junpei acts like an idiot."

We made our way up the stairs where we found that the rooftop was as empty as always, much to our delight.

"Time to eat!" Aigis said in a singsong voice, pulling out her lunchbox as she sat on one of the stone benches that was closest to the door. I couldn't help but chuckle as I watched her attack her food, practically tearing her lunch apart as she ate.

"What's so funny?" Aigis asked curiously, noticing the look on my face a few moments later.

"Nothing, it's just that… you must really be hungry, attacking your food like that." I replied quickly.

"What are you talking about?" my blonde-haired companion asked again, then paused for a moment and seemed to think about it for a little while. "Oh..." she finally murmured, probably realizing what it meant to "attack your food". "Wow… that was embarrassing… I didn't realize that I-"

"It's fine, you actually looked a little cute." I interrupted, my face heating up slightly as I made my comment.

"Eww, Minato-kun's a perv!" Aigis teased, pushing me gently.

"How the heck does that make me a perv!?" I demanded in the gentlest angry voice I could muster.

"It just does!"

"That doesn't make me a perv!"

"Yes it does."

"No it doesn't!"

"Yes it does!"

"I told you that it doesn't!" I said, my voice reaching a tone only a few decibels below shouting.

A brilliant smile spread across Aigis' face, and before I knew it we were both laughing hysterically for no apparent reason.

"Why are we laughing?" I asked through my fit of laughter.

"I don't know! It's so weird!" Aigis laughed in response.

We continued laughing together for a little while longer, and as we stopped, I took a look at Aigis' face and noticed how radiant her face looked. The brilliance of her smile as she laughed and the gentle expression that graced her features solidified my resolve once again, driving me to pursue the question that I had tried to address earlier.

"Hey… Ai-chan?"

"Yes?"

"Uh…" I began, taking a deep breath. "I… uh…" stuttered beginning to panic out of nervousness.

"Uh… Minato-kun, is something-" Aigis began, as the look of confusion in her eyes turned into a look of concern.

"Since we have no school tomorrow do you want to go on a date?" I blurted out idiotically a split second later.

"_Wait… oh crap. I just made an idiot of myself._" I thought, wishing that I could disappear at the moment. "Wait, that's not-"

"I… um… I'd love to." Aigis cut in, interrupting my delirium as a deep blush spread across her face.

"Of course you would, wouldn't y- wait, what?" I said, pausing briefly as her statement registered itself into my mind. "You actually understood what I was babbling about!?" I asked incredulously.

"Well, yeah… of course I could understand what you were saying." My girlfriend replied, grinning sheepishly. "It wasn't too hard."

"Really? Wow…" I murmured in amazement. "So, what time should I pick you up?"

"Umm… maybe nine thirty would be good."

"All right…" I replied softly as an awkward silence set in.

"_Come on, think of something!_" I scolded myself after a few minutes had passed. "_She's your girlfriend, dammit! You shouldn't be this nervous around her!_"

In all of my mental self-asskicking, I almost didn't notice Aigis gently placing her hand on top of mine.

Almost.

"_And she's totally nice and sweet! Why the hell- wait, what…_" I paused, finally noticing the hand that had been resting on mine for about a minute now.

"Um… something wrong?" I asked a little nervously.

"It's… well… you have this pained look on your face, and I was a little afraid for you, so…" she murmured as her voice trailed off.

"Oh… I'm sorry." I apologized quickly, "I just-"

My apology was cut short when, without any warning whatsoever, Aigis leaned sideways until her head came to rest on my shoulder. "I… can't think of anything to talk about." she mumbled, giggling softly. "How about you?"

"I've got nothing." I answered, gently nuzzling my head against hers.

"… Do we really need something to talk about?"

"I don't think so."

"…"

"…"

"…"

"… Want to stay like this until lunch ends?" I suggested, looking down to see Aigis' face brighten up at my proposal.

"I'd like that…" my girlfriend sighed, wrapping her arms around mine and adjusting her body so that she could lean on me more comfortably. I sighed in response, ruffling my girlfriend's golden hair as I accepted my total defeat.

* * *

"So… do you want to do anything in particular tomorrow?" I asked as the train to Iwatodai station clattered along. By some miracle, we had been able to find a train car that was almost empty, and we were enjoying our private little conversation.

"Just surprise me." Aigis replied, smiling softly at me. "I'm sure you'll come up with something great."

"I'm not so sure about that." I replied, laughing nervously. "My thought process probably got messed up from everything that happened today."

The rest of my day, to put it simply, was… complicated. After lunch, I had been chased by the "Aigis Fan Club" that Akihiko had mentioned, and only escaped them after a fifteen minute chase that involved running up and down the stairs. After that, I had been hunted by them for the rest of the day, to the point that my classroom was the only safe place for me to hide. Eventually, Aigis managed to get the group of crazed fanboys to back off, but only after she offered them her handkerchief as a payment of sorts.

"I still can't believe you gave it to them." I sighed. "You're encouraging them."

"No I'm not. And besides, I have eleven more at home." My blonde haired companion laughed as she saw the odd look on my face. "What? It was on sale, a dozen handkerchiefs for 1500 yen."

"Why would you buy handkerchiefs in bulk?"

"For emergencies… like today." she replied as a brilliant smile spread across her face. "They promised they'd leave you alone, so we can act all "lovey-dovey" without anyone interfering."

"Ai-chan, no one uses that term anymore."

"But it's fun to say! Lovey-dovey!" my girlfriend said as she burst out in a fit of giggles.

I wanted to convince her to stop using such a lame-sounding term, but she looked like she got a real kick out of saying it, so… who was I to stop her? "Fine, use it if you want to." I said, sighing in exasperation.

"Thank you!" she cheered, giving me a quick peck on the cheek.

"_This girl… there's no point in trying to argue with her, she's just too damn cute that I can't refuse her!_" I thought, sighing mentally. "_But if anyone's going to manipulate me, I'd rather Ai-chan do it to me than anyone else." _I laughed mentally, my cheeks warming up a little.

"_And speaking of which, I have quite a bit of planning to do…_" I groaned, praying that I would be able to come up with a plan of some sort by tomorrow morning. "_Maybe I can ask Yukari for some ideas…_" I though, as my mind began buzzing with activity in anticipation for the next day.

* * *

Will Minato be able to think of a decent plan in time? Will he be able to satisfy Aigis? Will something go wrong? Find out in the next installation of "Let Me Be with You", coming soon… hopefully.

* * *

Well, that's chapter 9. I'm a little behind in my work, so I'm really sorry for the late update. I'll try my best to update a little more though, but… yeah, life kind of sucks like that.

Review if you want to, it'll make me happy =D

Patleon909


	10. Let's Go

Welcome, one and all, to Chapter 10 of "Let Me Be with You"! This fanfic is swiftly approaching the 30 review mark, so much thanks to everyone who's been supporting me! How will things turn out during the first official date of our two lovebirds? Continue on and find out =3 Review when you're done, it'll make me happy! =D Extremely sorry about the late update though.

* * *

**Let Me Be with You**

**Chapter 10: Let's Go**

For lack of a better adjective, not to mention that my train of thought had been derailed for some time now, I was nervous.

Beyond nervous, actually. The feeling that was pushing down on my psyche was more like overwhelming terror.

Okay, screw it. I was freaking out like I had never panicked before.

I had discussed possible date plans with Yukari last night, debating and weighing the options until eleven in the evening. And after all that suffering, I managed to piece together what I thought would be a half-decent plan for my first date with Aigis.

Half-decent. For my first date. I felt pathetic, to say the least. Yukari had woken me up at 8:15, dragging me out of bed as she literally threw me into the shower. After I had tidied myself up, Yukari had chosen an outfit for me that she thought would be suitable for my date and for the still-chilly weather: a navy blue sweater with a collar that made it look similar to a polo shirt, pale blue jeans and a grey coat which I swore weighed at least five pounds. When I was foolish enough to ask Yukari the reason I had to drag along the stupid thing, I promptly received a sharp blow to the side of my head, along with a comment about loaning it to Aigis if it got cold later on.

Afterwards, Yukari proceeded to shove my breakfast down my throat (since apparently I wasn't eating fast enough), then rushed me out of the house since she insisted that I arrive at least twenty minutes early. Which brings me to my current state of being: sitting on the couch in the living room of the Yamada household, quivering like a dog in the middle of a hurricane as I waited for my girlfriend to finish getting ready. It would have been more bearable if I Keisuke-san had been there, but unfortunately he had already left for work, hence I had no one to talk to since Aigis' mother was busy helping her with a "something" that they failed to specify.

"We're almost done!" Yui-san yelled from the direction of Aigis' bedroom.

"Okay!" I replied, trying to mask the misery that I was feeling. Well, it wasn't real misery, it's just that my extreme nervousness had finally managed to transform into a feeling that was pretty close to misery. I groaned, doing what I could to calm myself down.

A few minutes later, I had just regained my composure and the trace amount of sanity I had left when I heard footsteps approaching. I looked up at the two women approaching me… and my jaw almost hit the floor. No, actually it did. It unhinged itself from my skull and fell through the floor into the center of the earth. And then if fizzled up and died.

Aigis' outfit was beyond cute, with her simple yet elegant one-piece navy dress with tight sleeves and lace on the hem, with a matching scarf and black leggings. But what really got me was the fact that for the first time since I had met her, she was wearing make-up. I mean, she looked great with her natural appearance, but this was definitely something else. Her cheeks had been lightly dusted with a light-colored blush, her eyelids with an eye shadow that was in between white and cream-colored, and her lips glistened with what I assumed to be lip gloss.

"I- is this too much?" Aigis asked with uncertainty in her voice, looking down to avoid my gaze. "I- I mean, I didn't really want to do this, but my mom insisted so I went ahead with it…"

"Oh! No, no, you look… great…" I replied, quickly snapping out of my delirium as my face began to redden. "You look good in make-up."

"I, uh… thank you…" my girlfriend stammered, the surprise clearly showing on her face. "I honestly thought you wouldn't like it…"

"Well, looks like my work here is done." Yui-san interrupted, placing a hand on Aigis' shoulder. "Have fun on your date. I'm going to go take a nap now." she concluded, yawning as she walked back towards the bedrooms.

"So… do you want to head out now?" I asked, holding my hand out as I tried to put a brave look on.

"Lead the way." Aigis said, smiling as she wrapped her fingers around mine. We walked out of her house together, and we slowly closed the distance between us as we continued down the road.

"Minato-kun?" my blonde-haired companion asked once we had arrived at the train station, which was fairly empty since it was Sunday morning.

"Yes?"

"You're pretty nervous about this, aren't you?"

"Damn… you're right though, how'd you know?" I answered, laughing nervously at how easily Aigis had seen through me.

"My mom told me how much you were shaking after she let you in." my girlfriend replied, giggling as groaned miserably.

"Great, you must think I'm a total dork now."

"No, no! I actually thought it was really cute when she told me about that."

"Oh… really? How so?" I asked, giving Aigis a questioning look.

"Well, the only times I've seen you get nervous are when Yukari-san is angry at you, so it's nice to see that you're not completely immune." she answered as a smile spread across her face. "But why are you so nervous? It's just a date."

"How can you say that? This is a date, it's-"

"How is it any different from us hanging out together like always?" my girlfriend interrupted, surprising me with an unexpected amount of sharpness in her voice.

"…Is it really any different?" Aigis asked again after I failed to respond after a minute had passed.

"Well… it's not different, it's just that… it's more… important, I guess." I mumbled, scratching my head embarrassedly.

"Minato-kun… you shouldn't worry too much. I'm just as nervous as you are." Aigis sighed, leaning against me as she rested her head on my shoulder. "But I know everything's going to be okay… because I'm with you."

My eyes widened as I turned to look at my girlfriend and saw the look on her face. I had expected her to be grinning or holding back laughter, but although she was blushing, her expression gave no indication that she hadn't been serious when she said that.

"I… uh… thank you… for having so much faith in me." I replied, a little delirious from how warm my face had become. "I… wow, after you say something like that, I can't help trying my best." I continued, smiling fondly at my blonde-haired companion.

"Glad to have you back to normal." She replied, gazing up at me with affection in her eyes.

* * *

After our little talk at the train station, our date continued without too many complications. After we arrived at Paulownia Mall, we had breakfast together at Changall Café, during which a suspicious looking man began flirting with Aigis after I had left for a brief visit to the restroom, which I responded to by "accidentally" spilling my coffee on the guy's pants. Although it pained me to see that the scalding liquid had missed intended, the action had its desired effect, and the man fled the restaurant with the appearance that he had wet himself.

Afterwards, we headed to Mandragora for a one-hour karaoke session. Since Aigis was too shy to go up at first, I wound up singing a duet with her, which seemed to boost her confidence quite a bit despite the fact that we were completely out of sync and kept tripping over each others' words. Towards the end of our reserved hour, Aigis sang a round of "Paradise Lost" that sounded so much like Chihara Minori that I spotted some passerby's peeking in to see if the famous seiyuu had decided to drop by for a visit. After that, I wound up singing the last song of our session, which happened to be "Just the Way You Are" by Billy Joel, whose lyrics caused Aigis to blush intensely as I sang.

"Minato-kun… were you trying to imply something during that last song?" my girlfriend asked quietly as we made our way out of the karaoke bar.

"Maybe. Why?" I asked, winking coyly at her, which caused her already red face to darken considerably.

"I- um… I don't know…" she mumbled as she buried her face in my shoulder to hide her embarrassment. "Oh, look! A crane game!" she said, perking up pointed in the direction of Game Panic.

"All right, let's go check it out." I sighed, grumbling silently as my girlfriend cheered rather loudly.

"So many stuffed toys… ooh, a Jack Frost doll! Can you get it for me?" Aigis pleaded, her eyes shining as she made her request.

"I'll try, I'll try." I laughed, pulling out my wallet.

After four failed attempts, each of which disheartened me a little more, I finally managed to snag the Jack Frost doll, which was promptly squeezed with great force as I handed it to my blonde-haired companion.

"Thank you! I'll treasure it forever!" Aigis cheered, beaming at me as we walked towards our next stop.

* * *

We concluded our venture in Paulownia Mall with a trip to Power Records, where I found that Aigis, although she had only listened to the theme songs from the various animes and that she watched, seemed to like songs that were cheerful and upbeat, and also enjoyed songs that were calm and relaxing.

It was about 3 p.m. when we walked out of the mall, so we decided to go back to Iwatodai Station. Since we didn't have a solid idea of what to do next, I decided to take Aigis to the manga store on the third floor of Iwatodai Shopping Center, which was a big mistake on my part. We wound up leaving the bookstore with 4 bags of manga and a gaping hole in both of our wallets.

"So… what should we do now? Do you want to eat?" Aigis asked as we made our way down the spiraling metal staircase that led to the lower floors.

"Sure, but… hey, wait a minute, is that..?" I murmured, spotting a familiar looking head of pale brown hair running by the bookstore on the first floor.

"Who is it?" Aigis asked, peering over my shoulder. "I don't see-"

"I'll be right back." I interrupted, rushing down the steps as the head stopped in front of the takoyaki stand. I flew down the steps to see a person I hadn't seen in a long while sitting in front of the takoyaki stand.

"Mamoru? Is that you?" I said, gawking in disbelief.

"Huh? Holy crap, Minato!" the pale-skinned athlete said, looking up with wide eyes. "Hey!"

"Hey! How the hell have you been?" I said as we locked hands in a firm handshake. "I haven't seen you in forever!"

"Minato-kun, why'd you run off like that?" Aigis puffed angrily as she walked over to I was standing. "It's not nice to leave-"

"Hello, who's this?" Mamoru asked, pushing past me to take a better look. "Hey there, why don't we-"

"Hey. No hitting on my girlfriend." I growled, taking a firm hold of Mamoru's neck and giving it a hard squeeze.

"No way!" he shouted, whipping around to look at me with a shocked expression on his face. "You… her… dude, that's so awesome! You finally got a girlfriend!" my brown-haired friend laughed, patted me on the back.

"I… uh… who is this?" Aigis asked with a confused look on her face.

"Oh, this is Hayase Mamoru. He was one of my rivals in anything sports-related when we were in middle school. But outside of that we were really good friends." I said as Mamoru got me in a headlock.

"Yep! This guy is the only person who can beat me in a footrace." he laughed, punching me gently on my shoulder.

"So what brings you here?" I asked my brown-haired friend after he released me from his headlock.

"I was passing by here on my way to get- oh crap, I still have to get the groceries!" Mamoru groaned, slapping himself on the forehead. "Sorry dude, it's been great seeing you, but I gotta run. Nice to meet you, by the way!" he said, quickly shaking Aigis' hand before he charged off into the distance.

"How come you haven't seen him in so long?" Aigis asked once Mamoru had disappeared. "Doesn't he go to our school?"

"Actually, he doesn't. His family is having some financial troubles, so he's attending a different school so he can save some money." I explained quietly.

"Oh… but then how can you stay friends if you're so far apart?"

"Huh… that's a tough one. In all honesty, it's really hard." I replied, smiling sadly as I realized how little contact I had with Mamoru after the last day of middle school. "Long-distance friendships are really hard to maintain, but… I think that if you're really friends with someone, you'll find a way, somehow…" I finished as my voice trailed off. "But enough of that, let's go eat!"

* * *

After a hearty meal at the Wakatsu Restaurant, it was still pretty early, so we decided to head back to Aigis' house to watch one of the DVDs that we had bought at Power Records. However, the weather forecast had failed to warn me of the storm that brewed as we walked out of the train station, which began pelting us with rain after seven minutes after we had left the station. Forget raining cats and dogs, it was raining Hondas and Mitsubishis (A/N: The cars). And on top of that, the rain was very, very cold. Fortunately, there was a sheltered bus stop nearby when it the torrent began, so we quickly ran to take shelter.

"Agh, dammit… Stupid rain." I grumbled as I dug through my pockets in search for my handkerchief so that I could dry my face. Aigis, despite being just as wet as I was, pulled out her own handkerchief and began dabbing it on my cheeks.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm wiping the water off of your face." my girlfriend replied as she continued busily wiping the rainwater off of my forehead.

"Uh… why?"

"Because your face needs to stay dry, otherwise you'll catch a cold." Aigis answered, backing away with a satisfied smile on her face when she finished drying me off.

"Uh… thank you. You can use mine… I guess…" I mumbled embarrassedly as I handed my handkerchief to my blonde-haired companion.

As Aigis proceeded to dry herself as much possible, I was surprised to find that the five-pound coat that Yukari had forced me to take had managed to stay relatively dry underneath my sweater, which had apparently soaked up most of the rain that I had been pelted with.

"Here, you must be cold…" I said, putting the large coat over Aigis' shoulders while she continued to dry herself.

As I took my seat, however, Aigis surprised me by moving closer until she pressed against me, throwing the other half of the coat over my shoulder as we made contact.

"It's better this way, right?" she asked in response to the look of confusion that appeared on my face. "We can share our body heat and while the coat keeps us warm, so neither of us risks getting a cold," she concluded as she laid her head on my shoulder. "Oh, and I get to do this." she added, giggling cutely as I felt my face get warmer.

"So… Ai-chan?"

"Mhm?"

"…You had fun today, right? I mean, I didn't mess anything up, did I?" I asked nervously, looking away to hide my embarrassment. "I know I didn't do anything wrong, I just-"

"Minato-kun, that's enough." Aigis interrupted, speaking in the same stern tone that she had surprised me with earlier.

"But-"

"Minato-kun, I don't understand why you're acting like this…" Aigis said, looking down at the wet pavement dejectedly. "I… I thought you'd be happy going out on a date with me. I mean, you seemed so eager yesterday, but now… you're acting like you're scared to be with me right now. I don't know anymore… did you force yourself to do this? If so, I-"

"No! It's not that!" I blurted out frantically, "I… I'm sorry if I gave you that impression, but I just wanted to make sure you were happy. I mean, the things we did today weren't all that special, so I thought that you might have been dissatisfied…" I mumbled, looking away sadly as I finished my statement.

"…I see… I'm sorry." Aigis apologized, surprising me as she quietly wrapped her arms around my waist. "I didn't make it clear, then…"

"What do you mean?"

"I should have responded properly two nights ago when you told me that simply being myself would make you happy. I… no matter what we do, no matter where we go… as long as I am by your side… I will always be happy, no matter what happens." Aigis concluded, her voice softening as she looked up at me and smiled softly at me. "But if you really need to know, I honestly enjoyed our date today." she added quickly.

In all honesty, I felt quite foolish for being so paranoid about making our date perfect. As Aigis looked at me with those eyes that radiated warmth and affection, I realized that I had been scared of disappointing Aigis with my lack of experience that I had almost ruined our outing with my erratic behavior.

"Minato-kun, isn't this usually the part where the boy and girl kiss?" my companion asked, quickly snapping me out of my daze. "You know, after the pair clears up all of the misunderstandings between them?" she continued after seeing the bewildered expression on my face.

"So are you saying that you want to kiss me?" I asked coyly after I regained my wits.

"It would be nice." My girlfriend smiled as she leaned in. I met her halfway, and for the second time since we had become a couple, our lips met once again.

The last time I had kissed Aigis, I had been too overcome by the passion to notice anything but the sensation. But now…

Now I noticed my girlfriend's golden locks gently brushing against my cheek…

Now I noticed the fresh smell of the cool rain mixed with the faint scent of Aigis' perfume…

Now I noticed the warmth of her body as she pressed against me…

Now I noticed the pounding of her heart, in perfect unison with my own heartbeat…

Now I felt the smooth texture of her lips as we kissed each other with gentle passion…

And as we parted, I saw the total devotion that Aigis had for me reflected in those perfect blue eyes, which glimmered like stars as we gazed lovingly at each other.

"Minato-kun?" Aigis breathed after a few moments of silence had passed.

"Yes?"

"Can I address you as just Minato from now on?" my girlfriend requested shyly, looking away as a deep blush colored her cheeks.

"Sure, but what's wrong with calling me Minato-kun?"

"Nothing, but… it would help me feel a little closer to you…"

"All right… Minato it is then." I laughed, putting my arm around Aigis and pulling her into a gentle hug. "But only if I can call you Aigis."

"Okay… Minato." My girlfriend replied, blushing as she tried out my new nickname, of sorts.

We continued to silently watch the rain fall for the next ten minutes, simply basking in each other's warmth as we waited for the downpour to subside. I was just beginning to doze off when the rain finally quieted down enough for me and Aigis to continue our trip back to her house. When we finally made it to her house, we were greeted by the sound… of silence. We soon discovered a note from Aigis' mom saying that she had left for work and that her dad had to work late, along with some minor details about her dinner and the like.

"So in other words… we're alone together in this house until my dad gets home?" Aigis asked as a weird look slowly spread across her features.

"I guess so…" I replied mildly, already suspecting that a certain thought was forming inside my girlfriend's mind. My suspicions were confirmed when she suddenly turned away, her face quickly becoming bright red.

"Why don't I go make some popcorn?" I asked, placing my hand on Aigis' shoulder, realizing my mistake a split second too late.

"Oh, shi-"

I didn't feel her hand impact my face. I didn't hear any sound resembling a smack. I didn't even feel myself falling backwards. All I knew was that a second later, I was on the floor, flat on my back and staring at the ceiling with a throbbing pain on my right cheek.

"Okay… that hurt."

"Oh my god! Minato-kun, I'm so sorry!" Aigis apologized, hopelessly fussing over me as she bent down to help me up. "I got the wrong idea, and-"

"Don't worry, it's fine." I said, wincing in pain as I got back on my feet.

"You hit me pretty hard though." I groaned, forcing a chuckle as I rubbed my poor, stinging cheek. "Wow… that's definitely going to leave a mark."

"I'm really sorry… I didn't mean to slap you so hard… n-not that I meant to slap you at all, it's just that… I did it completely out of reflex, so… um… sorry."

"Don't worry… the pain will go away eventually." I sighed, smiling gently at relieved girlfriend. "Enough about that. How about I make some popcorn while you load up the movie?"

Twelve minutes and one bowl of popcorn later, Aigis and I sat in front of the TV together as the prologue of _Bleach: Memories of Nobody_ began playing on the screen. Despite the fact that I hadn't seen the movie yet and I was really interested in the movie, I felt myself beginning to nod off, since my exhaustion had apparently caught up to me.

_You feel your eyelids getting heavy. Close your eyes for a bit?_

_Yes_

_No_

"Wow… I must be really tired if I'm imagining a dating sim menu in my head…" I thought, laughing mentally as my consciousness began to fade. "Whatever, I'll go along with it."

_You feel your eyelids getting heavy. Close your eyes for a bit?_

_-- Yes_

_No_

_Your mind goes blank as you slowly drift off into a deep slumber…_

* * *

I had no idea what time it was when I woke up. I just sat there, rubbing my eyes as I worked my way out of my drowsiness.

Which was when I realized that my face had gotten a lot closer to the carpet…

And the living room had suddenly turned sideways…

And for some bizarre reason, I was resting my head on a pillow with a blanket on it.

"Wait… when did I-"

"You're awake."

I froze in place as my eyes slowly looked up… into the warm smile of my girlfriend.

"Come on, you're just in time for the final battle of the movie." Aigis said excitedly, grinning at me as I slowly rose from my rested position.

"… I fell asleep on your lap?"

"No, you fell asleep sitting up, but then you tipped over and your head fell into place."

"And you were completely all right with that?"

"Yes." Aigis replied simply, redirecting her attention to the movie. "Oh, and Yukari-san called. She said you could stay over for as long as you like since it's our first date, and not to worry that you're an hour late."

"Crap." I moaned, glancing at the clock to see that I was not only an hour late anymore, and that the current time was 8:13 p.m., two hours and thirteen minutes after the time I had agreed to come home.

"Yukari's not going to be happy about this…" I grumbled, slowly getting to my feet, only to be stopped by a slight tug on my arm.

"Can't you stay… just a little longer?" Aigis pleaded quietly, her hands gently grasping my sleeve. "Just until the movie is done…"

I wanted to resist Aigis' plea for me to stay. I didn't want Yukari to splatter me on the wall since I had pushed her patience far more than I should have. But the way that she looked at me, with those beautiful, blue eyes of hers, her lip quivering as she held onto my arm, the clear expression of sadness on her face… how could I say no?

"All right. Only until the movie ends." I mumbled, sitting back down as Aigis thanked me delightedly.

"Well, I suppose getting brutalized by Yukari is worth it… if only for Aigis' smile…" I thought to myself as my girlfriend took her place beside me.

* * *

It was 8:41 when the movie ended, epilogue and all. "Wow, that was a great movie." I yawned, as I rose from my seat. "I'd love to stay, but I have to head home…" I sighed as I sauntered over to the front door. Aigis quickly followed, holding the door open for me.

"Good night." my girlfriend mumbled quietly, an unmistakable hint of sadness hint of sadness in her voice.

"Minato… do you think we can do this again sometime soon?"

"Of course."

"I mean, without you being so nervous… like you're enjoying yourself, instead of acting like you're afraid that something will go wrong…"

"Oh…" I answered, realizing that I had probably made some parts of our date a lot more awkward due to my paranoia. "That was just first-time jitters. I promise I'll be less paranoid next time." I added, as a look of relief shone on Aigis' face.

"Okay then… good night, Aigis." I smiled, pulling her closer to me for a brief kiss. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Ah… yes." Aigis blushed, waving as I departed from her home.

I hurriedly made my way back to my house, worried of the vengeance wrathful woman who was awaiting my return would inflict upon me. After a few seconds of procrastinating in front of the entrance to my home, I came to the conclusion that if I delayed my return any further, it would only increase Yukari's wrath and make my suffering all the more painful.

"Well… here goes." I muttered, gathering my courage as I slowly opened the door.

"I'm ho-"

"How was your date?" Yukari asked simply from the couch, glancing up at me from behind her fashion magazine. "Did you have fun?"

"A-are you feeling okay?" I questioned nervously as a haunting fear crept up my spine. "You're not angry?"

"Nope."

"Even though I'm two hours late?"

"Didn't Aigis tell you that I was okay with you being out late?"

"Yeah, but… you're seriously not mad?"

"Do you want me to be?" Yukari asked, eyeing me warily.

"No, but… well, I was expecting you to… I don't know, knock me around like usual, I suppose." I laughed, relief washing over me as I took a seat beside her.

"Well, I guess I'd do that normally, but…" Yukari sighed, and sat up as she closed the magazine and put it on the coffee table. "Today was your first date, and I wanted you to have fun… so I figured that I shouldn't make such a big fuss if you were late."

"Wow… I never would have expected to hear that from you." I joked, earning me an elbow to the ribs from Yukari.

"You're horrible!" Yukari shouted as she began to assault me with her rolled up magazine.

"All right! I give!" I laughed as Yukari ended her attack. "I guess that last comment was uncalled for, though."

"Of course it was." Yukari huffed, sitting back down on the couch with an air of indignation about her. "And as your punishment, you've gotta tell me everything that happened." Yukari grinned, her eyes gleaming with mischievous intent.

"That sounds fair." I laughed. As I began to relay the day's events to a very interested Yukari, I remembered that third semester final exams were scheduled to begin in a few weeks.

Just a few more weeks… then I had one month to spend as much time as possible with all of my friends…

Just a little while longer.

* * *

Will Minato be able to pass his final exams? What will happen once school lets out? Find out in the next chapter of "Let Me Be with You"!

* * *

Well, that was one of the shortest end-of-chapter rants that I've ever written… not that I have much to rant about xD.

Thank you for reading, and don't forget to review!


	11. A Small Change in Pace

Really, really, REALLY sorry about the late update! I got caught up during Christmas then got really busy with midterms, so I apologize for the delay. Hope you all enjoy this chapter!

* * *

**Let Me Be with You**

**Chapter 11: A Small Change of Pace**

"Ugh… finals are next week…" Junpei groaned, slumping in his chair for the nth time today. "I'm not ready for finals…"

"Of course you aren't. You never study." Yukari said with a disapproving expression.

"But studying is so boring."

"Tough. Be a man and suck it up."

I couldn't help but grin as I watched Yukari began "persuading" Junpei to join her for a last-minute study session. I, on the other hand, was very prepared for my exams. I just had to do a little reviewing, and then I could enjoy the rest of my weekend. Ah… sweet, sweet freedom…

"Minato-kun? Do you want to leave now?" Aigis inquired, quickly snapping me out of my thoughts.

"Oh… sure." I replied, hastily gathering my belongings then following my girlfriend out of the classroom.

As we trekked down the hallway I noticed that Aigis had addressed me as "Minato-kun" when she had called out to me earlier. It had been a few weeks since our first date, yet she still hadn't been able to call me "Minato" if anyone else was within earshot. Not that it was surprising, considering if she did it would notify anyone and everyone of our relationship… then again, most of the school had been alerted to our coupling, so I couldn't see how that would matter…

I'm so confused…

"Minato-kun, you seem distracted… are you okay?" my companion asked with a hint of worry in her voice.

"I'm all right, thanks for asking." I replied, grinning sheepishly at Aigis as a look of relief spread across her face.

"Well then, if you're not busy tomorrow… could you help me study for my exams?"

I literally heard a crash as my weekend plans were utterly decimated by that one request. "CRAP." I whined mentally as I desperately tried to keep the disappointment that I was feeling from showing on my face.

"I- I mean, if you already have plans, then I can just-"

"No, no… it's fine. I was just going to slack off, so it's okay. I'll help you study." I sighed, giving my girlfriend a reassuring smile. "I'll be happy too tutor you in anything you need help with."

"Oh, well then… I… probably came too late then…" a low voice sighed from behind me.

I turned quickly to see a familiar green-haired girl looking up at me with a slightly dejected expression. "Oh, Fuuka-chan. What's up?"

"Actually, I was just coming over to ask if you could help me study for my finals too… but since Aigis-san already asked, I guess I'll just-"

"Why don't I just help the both of you then?" I cut in, causing both girls to look at me with shock and awe in their eyes.

"N-no. I couldn't possibly ask you to do that…" Fuuka protested, peering at me with a concerned and guilty look in her eyes. "And besides, it would be hard to help the both of us at the same time, wouldn't it?"

"Not at all. The both of you are bright, intelligent girls, so I think I'll do just fine." I replied, beaming at my two friends, both blushing slightly from my compliment."

"Well… I don't have any objections, so if it's okay with Minato-kun then it's fine by me." Aigis said, smiling contentedly at our green-haired friend.

"Oh… well, thank you…" Fuuka blushed, smiling gratefully at the both of us. "I really appreciate it."

"No problem. Now we just have to figure out where to meet…" I sighed. "Any suggestions?"

"The library near Iwatodai station?"

"No… it's too quiet in there and if we get hungry it'll be a problem…"

"What about Chagall Café? It resolves the food issue and the atmosphere is relatively calm, so we shouldn't be too easily distracted and we can talk as much as we want as long as we keep it down." Aigis suggested eagerly.

"That could work… okay, what about the time? I'm available for the entire day, so it's entirely up to you two." I said, leaving my two friends to discuss our meeting time.

"Okay… is nine in the morning too early for you?"

"Yeah, I should be available by then."

"So it's settled then. We'll meet tomorrow morning at nine in Chagall Café." I declared as my two temporary pupils nodded in agreement.

* * *

I had arrived at Chagall Café fifteen minutes early to order snacks and coffee for when everyone else arrived. I was getting hungry off of the smell of baking pastries and brewing coffee when Fuuka arrived with a sizeable stack of textbooks and workbooks in tow. I expected Aigis to walk into the restaurant the second the clock ticked to 9 a.m., but 9:10 passed and there was no sign of my girlfriend, which was quite troubling considering that her punctuality was the stuff of legends. By 9:20, I was several levels past panicking.

"Where is she?" I wondered aloud, glancing at my wristwatch nervously. "Aigis is never late..."

"I'm sure she'll be here soon…" Fuuka said, the concern in her voice more apparent. "Why don't we start studying then?" Fuuka suggested brightly, interrupting my indecision. "I think it would be best to started while we wait."

"I guess so. Is the smell of pastries and coffee distracting?"

"Not really… although it's making me a bit hungry" My green-haired companion giggled softly. "But we really should get started."

"All right, all right."

I began by helping Fuuka with the topics that she really needed help on, which was mainly math and history. I was halfway through an explanation of the complexities of advanced English grammar when my cell phone buzzed, and the "New Message" sign flashed onto the screen.

Seeing that it was a text message from Aigis, I quickly flipped my phone open, eager to read the message that my girlfriend had sent me.

"Cannot come to study session; forgot that I had a doctor's appointment today, really sorry T-T I'll call you later."

"What's wrong?" Fuuka asked curiously, tilting her head slightly as she peered over my shoulder.

"Aigis can't come today… she forgot that she had a doctor's appointment…" I sighed, quietly putting away my cell phone as my green-haired companion returned to her seat.

"Well, I guess that means I'm all yours." I laughed, redirecting my attention to our textbooks as I began to refocus on the material I still needed to help Fuuka with.

"I guess it does." Fuuka smiled. "So… could you explain the proper uses of past-participle words in a sentence again?"

"Oh, sure. It's actually really simple, you just need to remember this…"

* * *

"Finally…" I mumbled to myself contentedly, running my hand through my hair as I rested my head on the table. After two and a half hours of explaining various subjects to Fuuka, I had finally managed to answer all of my friend's questions, which had proven to be a relatively simple yet tiring ordeal. But with patience, perseverance, four cups of coffee and ¥5000 worth of pastries, we had pulled through all of our studies.

"Thank you so much for helping me!" Fuuka beamed, smiling happily at me as she began gathering her textbooks. "I think I'll be able to do a lot better on my exams, so-"

My friend's words of gratitude were cut short as she noticed, a split second too late, that her elbow had bumped into my cup of steaming decaf, causing it to topple off of the table, and spilling all of its contents… straight onto my lap.

"Ah…"

"Uhuh…"

"…"

"…"

"Uh… a- are you all right?"

"Not really… my legs are in a lot of pain right now… but don't worry, I'll be fine." I laughed, honestly believing that I could shrug off the pain. After all, the coffee in that cup had been cooling for at least ten minutes, so it wasn't all that hot.

And then the second burst of pain came.

"Oh, thank goodn-"

I quickly clapped my hands to my mouth and let out a muffled scream, startling Fuuka and drawing suspicious glances from the customers inside the store.

"Okay, the pain's gone." I said a moment later, sighing as I dusted myself off. "This is going to be an interesting ride home…"

"N-no! Don't!" Fuuka protested, gently tugging on my sleeve. "I'll buy you a new pair of pants."

"I can't make do that! It's wrong and Yukari would kill me if she found out!"

"Would you rather ride home in a bus where everyone will be laughing at you?"

I groaned miserably, realizing just how compelling her argument was compared to mine. If I followed through with what I felt like doing and went home on public transportation with this massive stain on my pants, who knows what kind of humiliation and suffering I'd have to go through on my way back?

And besides… I get a free pair of pants… so I win either way…

Just kidding.

"All right… you win." I huffed, surrendering myself to my green haired companion's wishes. "I still don't think it's right for me to do this to you though…"

"What are you talking about? I did spill coffee on you, so I should at least make up for it."

"… Meh, I guess."

* * *

After five minutes of walking from Chagall Café, we approached a clothing store that, for some reason, looked strangely familiar. Upon closer inspection, I realized that it was the very same store that Yukari and I had taken Aigis to help her pick out her outfit for the Christmas party.

"So Fuuka shops here too… go figure…" I thought as we passed through the doorway.

Despite the fact that Fuuka had been gracious enough to walk in front of me in an effort to make the coffee stain on my pants less visible, a few of the other customers in the store seemed to notice, earning us a few odd glances.

We hurried over to a rack of denim pants that was stationed near the changing rooms and quickly browsed through the selection of pants that were hanging there.

"Hmm… I think this will be fine." I murmured, picking out a decent-looking pair of gray jeans that was only ¥2100, which was a relatively reasonable price.

"Take this one too." Fuuka instructed, handing me another pair of pants. I could tell, at a glance, however, that these pants were almost identical to the ones I had picked out. Same color, same size, same fit… except that it was ¥150 cheaper…

"Why?" I questioned, eyeing my green-haired companion curiously.

"Just in case." she replied simply.

I sighed, not wanting to burn more time arguing with her. We made our way to the changing room attendant's desk, the person there a relatively young man who was busily flipping through the latest issue of Weekly Shonen Jump.

"Whad'ya need?" he droned disinterestedly, glancing up at us briefly before returning to his manga.

"One family changing room pass, please." I asked, somewhat amused by his nonchalance and terrible work ethic.

"Mmm… I'm not going to be held responsible for anything that goes on in there, though…" he mumbled, handing me a green pass with a "1" hastily scribbled onto it.

"I'll keep that in mind…" I replied dryly, before proceeding to the changing rooms.

Fuuka followed me closely down the short hallway into the still-empty family changing room, a hesitant look on her face. After a few confused glances, she finally spoke.

"Uh… what did that attendant mean by-" she began.

"I don't think you want to know."

"Oh… okay." she replied quietly as the confusion on her face grew.

I quietly slipped into the changing booth, locking the door behind me while Fuuka waited outside. I neatly folded the other pair of pants that Fuuka had given me and placed them on the small bench beside me, then quickly changed into the pair that I had chosen.

"Hmm… it looks good…" I murmured, eyeing myself in the mirror. "It fits well and the color's nice… I don't see what she was so concerned about…" I continued, slowly slipping my hands into the pockets.

And there I found a problem. The only real issue that I ever concern myself with when buying pants.

"Damn it… the pockets are too big…" I thought. "Oh well… it's either this or go home wearing pants with a massive stain…" I sighed. Then, after taking a quick glance at the folded pants that sat beside me, another thought occurred to me.

Maybe… no, it's impossible…

But then again… why not?

I decided to give the pants that Fuuka had picked out a try. After zipping up the pants, I found that it fit exactly like the one I had chosen had, the color was the same, it was in the same condition… and the pockets were just right for my hands.

"How do the pants fit?" Fuuka called out, as if on cue. "Do you need me to get another pair?"

"How did you know?" I questioned, poking my head out of the booth to find Fuuka smiling brightly at me.

"It was a lucky hunch. Also, the big sign that said "Wide Pockets" over the rack you were sifting through was a clear giveaway too." she giggled as she watched me search for the sign she mentioned, suppressing a grin as my eyes widened in shock.

"I'll be damned… how the heck did I not notice that?" I wondered aloud, retreating into the changing closet to hide my embarrassment. "Still, you saved me a trip, so… thanks."

"Hey, it was nothing." Fuuka called out cheerily. "But why are you in such a hurry to leave?"

"Uh… does it really seem like that?"

"Yeah, it does seem that way…"

An awkward silence filled the air as I once again slipped into my stained pants and we hurriedly paid for the new pair. After rushing off to a nearby restroom I quickly changed into my new pants, and cursed myself every second for being so stupid. I mean, come on… Fuuka had gone through the trouble of buying me a new pair of pants after accidentally ruining my old ones… The least I could do for her was to at least _try_ to have a little patience, considering that she was trying to be nice to me.

It wouldn't feel right to leave like this… so, I resolved to do something to make up for my actions.

"Hey, you're done changing." Fuuka stated simply as I hurried out of the men's room. "If you want, we can go home-"

"Hey, wait." I interrupted, taking hold of my friend's wrist as she turned to leave.

How could I say this properly..?

"Look, I realize that rushing to get out of here was really… ass-like of me…" I murmured, struggling to find the right words that would help me drive my point, "and, well… it really doesn't seem right for me to leave you like this, so…"

I took in a deep breath, strangely nervous about saying the next sentence that was going to come out of my mouth.

"I'd like to make it up to you, so I'm yours until six p.m."

"… Uh, what..?"

The look of confusion that was now spread on Fuuka's face was a bit of a surprise. Could I have been any clearer about-

"Uh…what do… y-you're… mine?" Fuuka stammered, snapping me out of my thoughts and making me aware of the fact that her face was tinged a deep crimson.

Oh. So that's why she was confused.

"Oh, I meant… figuratively, you know." I said quickly. "You know, we can do whatever you want-"

Oh great, another comment that could be misinterpreted.

"I mean… we can hang out together… if you want." I said, correcting my statement before any more misunderstandings could arise.

"Oh… I see." Fuuka replied, her voice slowly becoming calmer as her eyes softened. "But don't worry about it. You don't really have to-"

"It's not that I have to do it." I interrupted. "I want to do this. Because it would be wrong for me to just ditch you like this, considering that you've been my close friend for some time now… So come on, let me do this for you." I pleaded, watching for any indication of how she might respond in that perplexed expression on her face.

After a few moments passed, a wave of relief washed over me as I saw Fuuka's lips curl into a soft smile. Then, as she looked up at me her face brightened, and she began to giggle cutely in the way that I knew all too well.

"Okay, you win." she said, her usual cheeriness quickly returning to her voice. "But please remember that you have a girlfriend, okay?"

"Of course, of course." I grinned, winking at my green-haired friend in response. "So where would you like to go, mistress?"

"Come on, don't tease me like that."

"C'mon, where do you want me to take you, mistress?"

"Fine, let's go to Mandragora. Now please stop calling me "mistress", it's embarrassing!" Fuuka laughed, taking hold of my wrist and pulling me along as we ran towards the karaoke bar.

* * *

We proceeded to the now-packed karaoke parlor, where we finally managed to snag a brief one-hour session after an agonizing twenty minute wait. It was an enjoyable experience, even though we both wound up tripping over each other in the few duets we attempted.

After we got bored of being massacred in the various shooter games stationed within Game Panic (which was mainly the fault of the fact that Fuuka was too nervous to shoot half the time, thus leaving me to deal with twice as many enemies), we ended up browsing through the other stores, occasionally stopping while Fuuka admired some fancy piece of jewelry or a piece of clothing that she found appealing. During a visit to one of the many accessory stores in the mall, I decided to buy her a simple pair of silver-plated earrings, which was reasonably priced and well crafted with an interesting design. Once we were outside, I presented it to Fuuka as a gift of my apology for my earlier behavior, and after a few gentle chidings, I finally got her to accept it. And even though she assured me that my present wasn't necessary for an apology, I knew that she really liked them from the way she beamed at me as she received them.

* * *

"Wow, today has been really fun." Fuuka breathed contentedly, fidgeting slightly in her seat.

After a few more hours of hanging out together, I decided to conclude our little outing by treating Fuuka to a dinner at the Beef Bowl Restaurant in Iwatodai Station (earning myself a light punch to the arm when I teased her by calling it a dinner date). We had just ordered a large beef bowl special (which we intended to split amongst each other), and so we decided to chat during the wait. However, the intoxicating smell of cooking meat made it really hard for me not to feel hungry.

"It's just like when we were in middle school, huh?"

"Yeah…" Fuuka mused, and we both sighed as we immersed ourselves in the memories of days long gone.

"…"

"…"

"We sound like a couple of people going through their mid-life crisis, huh?" I wondered aloud.

"We do, don't we?" Fuuka grinned, giggling cutely at my comment.

"Speaking of middle school, do you remember when Junpei-kun dropped that preserved leech onto your backpack?"

"Oh god, I remember that." I groaned, recalling that horrible day. "It took four weeks to get the smell of the preservation fluid off of my stuff…"

_Flashback_

"Junpei, what the heck are you doing?" I asked concernedly as I watched my friend reach for something on the "Do Not Touch" cabinet while standing on a stack of books haphazardly placed on a chair. I was early to class for once, despite the fact that I mainly tried to minimize the time I had to spend in the biology lab due to the rancid smells that permeated within the room.

"Quiet! I'm trying to get this… thing!" Junpei hissed. "Watch the door and tell me when the teacher's coming!"

"Fine." I replied disinterestedly, setting down my book bag beside my desk before sauntering over to the door. However, just as I arrived at the door, the handle turned, causing Junpei to look back at the door in bewilderment.

"CRAP! Minato, pull the door shut!"

I reached out to pull the handle back, and…

Too late.

"What's going on here?"

Junpei breathed a loud sigh of relief as a familiar green-haired student, Yamagishi Fuuka, quietly stepped into the classroom.

"Oh. Hey there Fuuka." Junpei called out, redirecting his attention to… whatever it was that he was trying to get from on top of the cabinet.

"Good morning, Junpei-kun, Minato-kun." she greeted us, flashing a bright smile at me.

"Morning." I replied, continuing to watch Junpei in his efforts, as he had apparently gotten a hold on whatever he had been reaching for.

A brief period of time passed as Fuuka and I watched Junpei in silence, observing him as he struggled to pull the object down from the cabinet.

"What is he doing?" Fuuka finally asked, breaking the silence a few minutes later.

"All I know is that he's trying to get something down from on top of that cabinet…"

"The one that says 'Do Not Touch'?"

"That's the one."

"FINALLY!" Junpei shouted, startling the both of us as we turned to see what he was yelling about.

My aforementioned friend stood atop the stack of textbooks with a triumphant grin as he held in his arms a see-through jar that reached from his shoulder to elbow… with a foul-looking liquid inside… and an even more disgusting looking arm-sized thing inside of the jar that looked like an armless, legless, wingless, shriveled-up miniature of the Khezu from the Monster Hunter series.

He went through all of that trouble… to get THAT?

"What the hell is that thing?" I finally managed to ask after I had gotten over the shock of the sheer ugliness of the abomination that my friend was holding in his arms.

"I don't know… but it looks cool, doesn't it?" He grinned, tilting the jar slightly.

"It looks like some sort of leech…" Fuuka observed, "but I think you should put it back before the teacher-"

"IORI! What the hell are you doing with my dead leech!?" a loud and menacing voice roared from the doorway. Standing in front of the door was none other than our biology teacher, an infuriated expression spread across his face.

Well, look who finally decided to show up.

"Aw, crap!" Junpei yelped, struggling to put the jar back onto the cabinet before he could get into any more trouble.

Unfortunately, in his frantic shuffling, the unevenly stacked pile of books that he had been standing on decided that it was time to collapse.

And as the stack of textbooks toppled, so did Junpei… who, as a last act of desperation, gave the jar a mighty push in an attempt to get it onto the cabinet again… which failed miserably. The result was that the jar, instead of being pushed forward, spun in the air, falling slowly behind the wildly flailing boy. My eyes widened in despair as I realized a moment too soon that, according to the jar's trajectory, its landing zone was the nearby table… where I had set my book bag down minutes before.

"NO!"

As the jar plummeted onto my bookbag with a resounding crash, my flare of anger was quickly drowned out by the powerful, rancid smell that filled the room almost instantaneously… as if a stink bomb had been detonated within the classroom.

"Sonofa- JUNPEI!" I bellowed angrily as I pinched my nose in an attempt to block out the smell. "I'm gonna kill you!"

"You can do that after he's done rotting in two week's worth of detention!" Our teacher shouted, "But for now, everybody out of the classroom! NOW!!"

_End Flashback_

"And that was my favorite bookbag too…" I wailed, bringing my attention back to Fuuka.

"And we had to do nothing but bookwork for the next three weeks after that…"

"But still, those were good times, huh?"

"Yeah…" my green-haired companion mused quietly. "It's been a while since we've talked like this, you know… you used to tell me everything, like I was your confidant."

"Yeah, that's right… but it's because you're so easy to talk to, not to mention that you're a great listener, too." I grinned, causing a red tinge to appear on my friend's cheeks.

"Aww. Stop it, you're making me blush." she giggled, covering her face in embarrassment.

Our conversation was interrupted when our waiter appeared beside our table with a massive, steaming bowl in his hands.

"Okay… one Mega Beef Bowl special for the lovely little couple…" he teased, grinning coyly as he set down our meal. "Enjoy~"

Both of our faces turned bright red as the smart-talking waiter practically skipped away, humming a merry tune as he went.

"Uh… I'm… going to ignore that comment…" I said dazedly, returning my attention to divvying up the meal.

"R-right… we should ignore what he said…" Fuuka replied quickly. Still, the blush that covered her face throughout the entire meal made it hard to believe that she really had forgotten the waiter's bold statement…

* * *

It was 5:35 when we finally walked out of Beef Bowl, and I let out a satisfied sigh as we sauntered out of the station.

"That was a nice meal." I stated, patting my stomach contentedly.

"…"

I glanced curiously over my shoulder due to the lack of a response and found that Fuuka, who I initially thought had been walking beside me, was actually trailing behind, with a look in her eyes that told me that she was deep in thought.

"Hey. Something bothering you?" I whispered in her ear once she had caught up to me. Her eyes snapped open, widening in shock as she drew away from me.

"O-oh! I- I'm sorry… I'm fine, really…" she apologized, waving her hands frantically.

"…"

"…"

"So… how's your relationship with Aigis-san coming along?"

"We're doing fine. We've gone on a couple dates, but the usual way we spend time together is by eating lunch together." I replied casually.

"I see… have you kissed her yet?"

"Um… twice, actually…" I answered sheepishly, "but why do you ask?" I asked, tilting my head slightly in confusion.

"N-no reason…" Fuuka stuttered hurriedly. "I- I was just… curious…"

"Okay…"

We continued the rest of the trek side by side in nearly total silence, the only real noises coming from the engines of cars as they zoomed past us. Finally, I decided to try stirring up the conversation again after we had arrived at a crosswalk that was devoid of any other human presence located a few blocks away from Fuuka's house.

"Hey, Fuuka?"

No response.

"Hey, come on…" I chided, poking her arm slightly.

This time, I got a reaction… but not one that I had anticipated. Instead of turning to me or anything similar to that effect, she took a step forward onto the street… while the crossing signal was still red.

"FUUKA!" I shouted, grabbing her shoulders and pulling her back onto the sidewalk into my arms, right as a truck came speeding past, over the spot where Fuuka had been stepping into only a second before.

"You idiot! Are you crazy!? What the hell are you doing? You could have been killed, you know that!?" I shouted, looking down at my green-haired friend.

Why won't she answer me? …wait. Is she… crying?

Damn, I went too far, didn't I?

"Hey, come on… I-"

"…ple… let… ou…" she murmured in a voice so low it was almost impossible for me to hear.

"I can't hear you."

"Please… let go… you're holding me too tightly…" she stated quietly, wiping the tears from her eyes.

I realized that I, in my hurry to save Fuuka from being splattered on a trucker's windshield, had wrapped my arms around her neck and her waist, and was currently pressing her slight frame against my body in a way that could easily be misinterpreted if anyone were to pass by.

"S-sorry…" I apologized embarrassedly, quickly releasing Fuuka from my hold. "But… what was that all about? Why'd you just randomly walk onto the street like that when the light was red?"

"I'm sorry… I was in a daze… I guess…" she apologized, quickly lowering her head as she looked away from me.

"Look, I'm sorry for shouting at you, but I was really scared! You could have been killed if I hadn't reacted in time… so I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings, okay?"

"It's okay… don't worry." Fuuka replied in a reassuring voice, and yet for some reason she still refused to look up at me.

I didn't want to push her any further, so I simply walked ahead after a few moments of silence. The sound of soft footsteps that echoed my own reassured me that Fuuka was following me, so we trudged along in silence right until we arrived at the front gate of Fuuka's two-story home. The moment I turned to leave, however, I felt a slight tug on my sleeve.

"Minato-kun… thank you for today." Fuuka whispered softly before I could say anything. "I had a lot of fun today… and I've really missed hanging out with you, you know?"

"Fuuka-chan…" I began, but was silenced my friend raised one hand to stop me.

"When I snapped out of my daze and saw that truck looming in front of me, I honestly thought I was going to die… and I was beginning to see my life flash before my eyes, which is why I started crying afterwards. Sorry to worry you, I know I was acting a bit strange." She apologized, scratching her head embarrassedly.

"That's fine, but don't worry me like that… you know how I get when my friends start crying…" I mumbled as a wave of relief washed over me.

Thank god… I seriously thought that she might be upset at me…

"But I really enjoyed hanging out with you today… I mean, it's been so long you know..? And I've… really missed being with you like this…"

Aww, that's so… wait, what?

"I mean, right now I feel like I want to laugh and scream and cry, all at the same time… I just don't understand it… my thoughts are all mixed up…"

I didn't quite understand where she was going with this, and the frigid winds that were chilling my body weren't really helping my thought process. "Fuuka…" I began, reaching out to try and comfort my distraught friend.

"No, it's okay Minato-kun. I'll be fine, I just… need to sit down and think this over. I'm all right." Fuuka replied, drawing back slightly.

"All right then… but if you need someone to talk to I'm here for you, alright? I… even if I can't directly help you, I'll be happy to help in any way I can." I said softly, smiling as I gave Fuuka's pale green hair a quick ruffle.

"…Thank you. I'll keep that in mind." Fuuka answered softly, smiling brightly at me in gratitude. "I'll see you tomorrow, so… bye!" she called out as she quickly ran inside her house.

I might have been imagining things, but… I could have sworn that there was just a tinge of melancholy in her voice as she waved good-bye to me…

What could be bothering her that she couldn't talk to me about? How odd…

* * *

My troubles with Fuuka would have to wait, it would seem.

"WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN!?" Yukari roared furiously, taking a firm hold of my shirt collar once I walked through the doorway of my home. "I CALLED YOU LIKE A THOUSAND TIMES! WHY DIDN'T YO PICK UP??"

"I didn't get any- oh…" I gawked as I pulled out my cell phone and realized that the battery was dead. "Woops…"

"Woops? WOOPS!? THAT'S ALL YOU HAVE TO SAY FOR YOURSELF!?"

"Well, that and I've been hanging out with Fuuka-chan up until just now… I'm really sorry though…" I apologized, clapping my hands together in apology (Also just in case I had to make a quick prayer before Yukari murdered me).

"You're lucky Aigis came an hour ago and convinced me to wait for you. I would have been forced to hunt you down if she hadn't." she snarled, finally releasing my collar and releasing a heavy sigh. "I was worried sick, you know? So you better make up for this…"

"I'm really sorry- wait, did you say that Aigis is here?" I asked, stopping in the middle of my bow to shoot Yukari a curious look.

"Yeah, she's in your room right now. You better go talk to her, because she was even more worried about you than I was."

I practically flew down the hall to my open bedroom where, much to my joy and dismay, I saw Aigis sitting on my bed, patiently staring into the wall opposite her.

"Uh… hi… Aigis…" I murmured nervously.

"Oh… hello." my girlfriend replied, giving me a plain look.

Oh crap… she's not seriously angry at me… right? Or… is she?

"Where have you been?" she asked coldly, snapping me out of my trance. "I have been here for the past sixty-seven minutes and fifteen seconds, waiting for you to come back… do you realize how worried I've been?"

Crapcakes. She is mad at me. Actually, scratch that. She kept track of the _seconds_. It's safe to say that she's beyond pissed.

"I'm really sorry, but my cell phone ran out of battery and I had no way of contacting-"

"You're not answering me. Where were you?" Aigis interrupted, the sternness in her voice rising to truly frightening levels.

Oh dear god. This isn't happening.

"I was… hanging out with Fuuka-chan." I sighed, finally giving in to her question as I sat down beside her.

"I see… and did it ever occur to you to at least TRY to call me, or at least Yukari-san, to let us in on your plan?" my girlfriend continued, as anger quickly took the place of the sternness in her tone.

Oh, I am so _very_ screwed. Please don't cremate me, Yukari-chan. I want to be put in a ditch and buried in a coffin. But… that doesn't sound too pleasant either… but it's better than being lit on fire, so whatever…

"Well, I… I… I'm sorry… I just got wrapped up in all of the commotion." I answered, staring at the floor embarrassedly.

A few silent moments passed, with neither of us making a single movement until, finally, Aigis stood up, turned to face me, and swung her hand at me.

Oh no… here comes the pain.

I cringed in anticipation for the slap that was headed for my jaw… but instead, all I got was a soft pat on the left side of my face. Confused, I looked up to see Aigis staring up at me with a look on her face that seemed to be a mix of relief and worry blended together.

"Wh-what was that about?" I stuttered nervously, gently placing my hand on hers.

"I… I trust you, Minato-kun… I trust that you would remember that I am your girlfriend, and that you wouldn't do anything to violate my trust, but… I don't quite understand why I still feel the urge to slap you…" Aigis replied softly, as she began to caress my cheek. "I was feeling really nervous when you didn't respond to any of our calls, but… you didn't do anything too risky with Fuuka-san… Right?" she whispered, her obvious fear reflected in her shimmering blue eyes.

"I-I didn't do anything with her, I swear!" I replied quickly, waving my hands in front of me frantically. "I-I'd never-!"

"I know you wouldn't… you would never do anything to hurt me, but I just had to be sure…" Aigis breathed, wrapping her arms around me and resting her head on my shoulder as she sat back down.

"… But what gave you that idea?" I questioned softly, turning to gaze into my girlfriend's eyes. "You know that I really care about you and that I like you, so… why?"

"Honestly… I'm scared. I'm afraid that one day, some other woman will swoop in, sweep you off your feet and carry you off before I can do anything about it, and… well… it bothers me sometimes." she sniffed, chuckling sadly as she buried her face into my sleeve. "I know that it's silly… but… I just can't help it, you know?"

"I'm sorry that I made you suffer like that… I really am." I said softly as I began to wipe the tears from Aigis' eyes. "But you didn't need to worry about anyone taking me away from you anytime soon, alright? I would never leave you or hurt you like that."

"…Okay… Minato… I feel a little bit better now, thank you." Aigis said simply as she looked up again and smiled. "But the next time that this happens, I won't be so quick to forgive you, okay?"

"It wouldn't be very fair to you if did." I grinned, placing a quick kiss on my girlfriend's forehead.

"Would you mind telling me exactly what you did today? I mean… if it's not too much to ask." Aigis asked as she turned away to hide her blush.

Oh, this is going to be a fun topic to discuss… wait, what am I worried about? I didn't do anything with her. It'll be fine. I hope.

* * *

I proceeded to relay the day's events in great detail, from the time Fuuka and I had left Chagall Café to the moment I walked through the door into my house. Aigis listened with careful attentiveness, and occasionally stopped me to ask a few questions. By the time I had finished with my narration, Aigis had an unreadable expression on her face, although it was clear to me that she was deep in though.

An unnerving silence filled my room as I waited for my girlfriend to say something. "_This isn't good…_" I thought to myself nervously. "_Is she angry at me? Noooo…" _I wailed mentally.

"Well… I'm happy that you were willing to go so far to make up for the fact that you were acting like a jerk…"

YAY!

"But…"

Damn it!

"I still feel a little angry that you spent time with Fuuka-san today instead of waiting for me… and that feeling of wanting to hit you is coming back again…" Aigis murmured as a slight pout appeared on her lips.

Oh, thank Go- wait… is she…

No… it's impossible…

Is Aigis actually… _jealous_?

At the exact moment that that thought popped into my mind, my mouth formed a wide grin, and before I could stop myself, I began to chuckle uncontrollably. Out of respect for the fact that I was in the presence of the person that was the source of my laughter, I quickly placed my hand over my mouth in an attempt to suppress my laughter.

"Minato… is something wrong? Why are you covering your mouth like that? And you seem to be shaking as well…" my girlfriend asked softly as an expression of slight confusion appeared on her face.

"N-no, I'm fine." I replied once I had calmed myself a few moments later. "It's just that… it's really cute to think that you might be jealous of Fuuka-chan, you know?"

"Oh… so that's what it feels like to be jealous…" Aigis mumbled, quickly looking down as a contemplative expression graced her features.

We sat on my bed in silence as I patiently waited for Aigis to speak up again, especially since she looked like she was deep in thought. After a few minutes had passed, she looked up at me again with a look in her eye that indicated to me that she had just made a decision about whatever she had been contemplating.

"Minato?"

"Yes?"

"… I don't like feeling jealous… I don't like having the urge to hit you, because… I don't want to hurt you. But… I don't know how to handle this feeling…" she sighed, a hint of sadness creeping into her voice.

"Just do what you did this time. If you ever feel jealous, talk to me about it. That's the best way to deal with jealousy… or at least, that's what I think…" I answered, laughing awkwardly as I tried to cheer my girlfriend up. "But don't worry. As far as I'm concerned, you're the only girl I have eyes for, okay?"

"…It's… quite comforting to hear you say that…" Aigis said, smiling at me happily. "Even though they are just words… it means a lot to me for you to tell me that… thank you." she smiled, placing a quick kiss on my cheek.

"Hey, you're aim's a bit off today." I teased as gently poked Aigis in the ribs, causing her to burst out in a fit of giggles.

"What do you mean by my aim?" she asked once her laughter had died down.

Oh… so she's ticklish in her ribs. I thought she understood what I meant…

"Never mind… it's nothing." I murmured embarrassedly, turning away to hide my face as my cheeks became slightly warmer. However, my efforts to hide my embarrassment were apparently in vain.

"Oh… I see… that's what you meant…" I heard Aigis whisper behind me.

I nervously looked over my shoulder to see my girlfriend blushing furiously and watched her eyes as they darted back and forth between me and the opposite wall of my bedroom.

"Why didn't you just ask?" she questioned softly.

"W-well… I'm not supposed to ask you to kiss me you know… it's… uh… a bit more complicated, I guess…" I replied awkwardly as I began to feel the warmth in my cheeks spread to my ears.

"O-oh… okay…"

"…"

"…"

"… uh… should we just..?"

"I… uh… if you want to…"

I was still embarrassed from the whole misunderstanding, so I was a bit hesitant to follow through with the kiss. I got over it after a few moment of silent contemplation, and seeing how Aigis had been waiting with her eyes shut, I leaned forward, and-

"Hey, Minato-kun, dinner's read- oops." A familiar voice called out from my doorway. Aigis and I both turned to see Yukari standing in the open doorway with a very flustered expression on her face. "I… didn't mean to interrupt… sorry." she apologized as she rushed out of my bedroom, slamming the door behind her.

"Ah… that… kind of ruined things…" I mumbled, returning my gaze to my girlfriend. "Well… I guess it's too late now- mmph!"

My eyes widened in surprise as Aigis quickly took hold of my collar and gave a slight tug. As I lurched forward she leaned in, my lips crashing into hers for a brief kiss.

"W-wh- what the..!?" I stuttered unintelligibly, still in shock from the suddenness and boldness of Aigis' actions.

"Didn't you want to kiss me?" Aigis asked softly, her face completely reddened. "Or did I do something wrong?"

"N-no, that was… well, but… it was… unexpected… but…" I murmured, unable to talk normally due to the fact that the heated blush on my face refused to fade.

"But..?" Aigs asked, tilting her head slightly with a questioning expression on her face.

"It was… nice…" I chuckled as a small smile of relief appeared on my girlfriend's face.

"I'm glad that I didn't do anything to upset you." she breathed as she rested her head on my shoulder and nuzzled against it affectionately.

"I wasn't upset… I was just surprised… that was really bold of you, you know…" I replied, slowly wrapping my arm against Aigis' shoulders.

"But you were happy when I kissed you, right?"

"Of course I was happy! Any guy would be happy to get a kiss from the girl he likes!" I replied incredulously as I gave Aigis' shoulder a gentle squeeze.

"That's all that matters to me… that I was able to make you happy." she breathed, another sigh escaping her lips as she shut her eyes briefly.

I couldn't help smiling fondly at Aigis as she rested against my arm. I could tell from the deep crimson blush that still lingered on her cheeks that she was just as embarrassed as I was about the kiss, especially considering how it was carried out. And yet, as I thought about it, the mere fact that she _had_ kissed me in such a manner, simply for the sake of pleasing me, proved just how much she was devoted to making me happy… and I realized how much I wanted to do the same for her.

"…"

"…"

"… Minato?"

"Mmm?"

"I can't ask you to never spend time with Fuuka-san again, but… will you at least remember to call me next time? I don't want to have to worry about where you are or what you're doing, because then I'll get scared, and that fear will eventually make me not trust you… and I don't want that to happen…"

"I promise. If anything that isn't planned comes up, you'll be the first one I'll call… after Yukari-chan, of course."

"And if your cell phone battery dies again?"

"I'll use a pay phone or I'll borrow someone else's cell phone."

"…okay. Just don't forget next time. Please." she admonished, squeezing my arm tightly to make her point clear.

"I get it. There will be hell to pay the next time this happens." I laughed, playfully ruffling Aigis' hair with my free hand as she loosened her hold on my other arm.

"I'm happy that you understand my point." Aigis beamed. "Now, I think Yukari-san has made you something for dinner, so I should get going…" she sighed, slowly rising from her seat on the edge of my bed.

"You can stay for dinner if you want. I _did_ split half of a Mega Beef Bowl with Fuuka-chan…" I objected, patting my stomach for emphasis.

"Is it really okay?"

"Of course… Yukari-chan is going to be really mad that I can't eat whatever she made, so she's probably going try to beat me senseless." I laughed, but stopped when I saw the look of concern that my girlfriend was giving me. "Figuratively, of course." I added quickly.

"Ah… okay then. Let me _call my dad_…" Aigis said, grinning mischievously at me, "and let him know that I'm going to be coming home late."

"I get your point. Go ahead." I laughed, and quietly left the room as she began dial.

I decided to wait outside of my room for Aigis to finish her call, partly because I felt like it and partly because I didn't want to have to face Yukari's wrath alone.

My door slammed open a few minutes later, and Aigis emerged from my bedroom with a deep blush and a flustered expression spread across her features. After a few failed attempts to try and tell me what was wrong, she simply shook her head and shoved her cell phone into my hand. Curious to find out what her father had said, I glanced at the screen and found that a text message was displayed on it instead of a "call on hold", which was what I had been expecting.

The text message read: "You're going to eat dinner at his house? That's great! Why not take it a step further and ask sleep over there? You can even try to sneak into his bed, give him a nice surprise once he lies down lol (^w^)"

Ah… I see…

I could feel my cheeks beginning to heat up as I finished glancing through the… highly suggestive message that Kensuke-san had sent his daughter. After rereading the text to reassure myself that I hadn't gone crazy, I quietly closed Aigis' cell phone and handed it back to her.

"…"

"…"

"… I… don't think I could stay over, even if I wanted to…" Aigis murmured as she let out a nervous laugh. "A-and I don't think Yukari-san would allow us to sleep in a bed together…"

"Yeah…"

A strange silence filled the hallway as we just stood there, blushing like crazy and not knowing what to say next to alleviate the awkward atmosphere. Yukari, however, soon filled that role quite nicely.

"Okay, Minato-kun. I'm tired of waiting. Let Aigis leave and eat your damn dinner." Yukari said angrily, seething killer intent as she walked into the hallway.

The anger in Yukari's voice, coupled with the malicious intent flowing from her being was more than enough to snap Aigis and me out of our flustered daze.

"Oh, about that… I ate at Beef Bowl with Fuuka-chan right before I got home, so I'm kind of full… do you mind if Aigis stays for dinner? Her dad already gave the go-ahead, so… yeah…"

I was almost afraid of what would happen after I asked that question. The most likely outcome that I could think of was Yukari knocking me on my ass, getting a long lecture about my stupidity and poor communication skills, and finally ending with the three of us having dinner together with me covered in bruises. Oh, won't that be fun?

"Fine."

What?

"Come again?"

"Aigis can stay for dinner." Yukari sighed, rubbing her temples with her left hand as she shook her head. "But really, you should be embarrassed, making your girlfriend eat your dinner… geez… and after I went through all the trouble of cooking for you." she grumbled as she stomped off to the dining room.

HOLY CRAP! I'M ALIVE!!!

"Well… that went better than what I had expected…" I breathed, chuckling with relief since I hadn't been horribly massacred in the manner that I had expected.

"She… took that rather well… I suppose we should follow her before she gets any angrier…"

"Good point. After you, madam." I bowed, sweeping my arm in an overly flamboyant manner as I directed Aigis out of the hallway.

"Come on, Minato." she giggled, tugging at my sleeve as she dragged me along.

As I led my lively companion to the dining room, I couldn't help being reminded once again of the brilliance of her smile…

The clear and enchanting tones of her laughter…

The gentle playfulness with which she urged me on…

And, most of all, the care and affection which I was sure she felt towards me…

And as all of these things ran through my head, I had to wonder...

Am I falling in love with her? Or am I already past that point...?

* * *

I will accept any "I hate you for taking so frickin long to update"-s just this once. Hope this chapter was good enough to make up for the delay…

Once again, a million apologies for the nearly two-month update delay, and thanks for reading, I hope you all enjoyed it =3

All constructive criticism is welcomed and appreciated. Random comments will be appreciated as well lol.

Patleon909


	12. A Very Interesting Day

Hello all~ Welcome to the latest chapter! A million apologies for the two-month delay (stupid work), but please enjoy! Hope this makes up for the wait. All constructive criticisms greatly appreciated ^w^

And on a side note, the 30 review mark has been breached! WOOO xD Thanks a million to everyone who has supported this fanfic, most notably JJEmpire, Damien Black, Iwanishi Nana, Lesser Ninja, Hikaru Yamamoto, and Spisant! YOU GUYS ROCK =3

* * *

**Let Me Be with You**

**Chapter 12: A Very Interesting Day**

"Ah… today is the day that I finally spend time with Aigis…" I hummed to myself happily. I was fully enjoying my time off now that school had ended, and I was spending a good deal of my vacation time catching up with my friends since I felt that I had been neglecting them. Today, however, I had reserved specifically for Aigis. Today we were going to go out, eat together, and do romantic stuff and all sorts of other things. It would have been perfect… except that I forgot to call her and instead decided to surprise her at her house.

"I probably should call…" I sighed as the chilly March breeze blew past me. "But that would ruin the surprise, wouldn't it?"

As I walked down the empty sidewalk past the houses bustling with people on this cold spring morning, I began to reminisce about the past week, during which both of my stepparents had met Aigis. The tiring ordeal began on the first Tuesday of spring break, when Eiichiro-san arrived home from his business trips two days early, only to find me sitting with Aigis' head against my shoulder as we watched a movie on the couch. Seeing as regular friends wouldn't have such intimate contact with each other, he was able to deduce that Aigis was definitely my girlfriend. After a few hours of frantic explanations and hastened introductions, as well as a brief interrogation by Yukari's dad, he found my girlfriend to be a "polite and delightful young lady", and fully accepted her as my girlfriend.

Yukari's mom, Takeba Yuuka, was also surprisingly accepting of Aigis.

Even though Eiichiro-san fully supported my relationship with Aigis, he absolutely refused to hide anything from his wife, no matter how far away she was due to business trips. Thus, I had been forced to call Yuuka-san to inform her of my new relationship. Upon her request, I called Aigis over to my house, who then engaged in a brief conversation with my stepmother. After five minutes had passed, I was handed back the phone by my now-flustered girlfriend.

"She sounds like a nice girl." She stated plainly in an unusually monotone voice.

Monotone. No enthusiasm… that's not a good sign.

"She's really sweet." I replied nervously.

"…"

"…"

"Is she cute?"

"Very."

"I see… and will she be able to make me some healthy grandchildren?"

"W-what!?" I choked, caught completely off-guard by the question.

"Just kidding, Mina-chan! You're girlfriend seems nice, but I'll withhold my approval until I meet her in person. Have fun making me grandchildren!" she had laughed, before abruptly hanging up on me.

I sighed deeply, as another frosty chill snapped me out of my memories. I never liked that name… "Mina-chan"... it makes me sound like a girl, dammit.

But it's Yuuka-san's way of showing that she completely accepts me as her son, the same way I see her as my true mother, who loved and cared for me as if she had birthed me herself.

* * *

As I finally drew nearer to the house of my girlfriend I noticed, both to my surprise and horror that Aigis was standing outside of her front door, having a pleasant conversation with someone who I couldn't recognize. After I had taken cover behind a nearby bush, I observed silently for a few minutes until some activity occurred, and Aigis began to walk away from her abode with the figure in tow, which I now recognized as… Junpei.

…

As soon as this realization worked its way into my thought process, a million questions, demands and curses rang through my head, though the most prominent one was:

WHAT

THE

HELL!?

Why is Aigis walking away with Junpei? Where are they going? Why is she going with HIM? WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE!?!? WHY WHY WHY WHY WHYYYYY!?

Rage, confusion, fear, and most importantly rage coursed through my veins, physically heightening my internal temperature as I fumed angrily while watching Junpei walk down the sidewalk with Aigis in tow. Well, they weren't holding hands or anything like that, but… come _on_. Jealousy is a powerful thing, damn it.

I knew what I was going to do. I would tear through the bushes that I was hiding behind, tackle Junpei and knock him out then angrily demand an explanation for the two of them being together. Yes, that's what I'll do… I'll-

"_But would she really do something like that to you_?"

That single thought was the only thing that stopped me from tearing my best friend's throat out that very second. As I calmed myself and thought it over rationally, I realized that my fears were completely unjustified.

Firstly, I knew that Aigis loved me (or at least liked me very much), and had pretty much sworn not to do anything to hurt me. Also, she had willingly listened to my side of the story when I had spent an entire day with Fuuka without notifying her, not to mention that she had also forgiven me despite the grief that I had caused her…

So what reason was there to doubt her? Other than my insane paranoia that had almost caused me to act out irrationally, there was nothing…

"Okay then…" I sighed as I rubbed my temples to help me regain my composure. "But then why would she go off with him without calling me first?"

Well, the chances that she was actually going on a date with him were absolutely nothing, so that idea was out of the question…

Perhaps she was going shopping with him? … But then why didn't she take me with her?

Okay, so assuming that they're just hanging out… there's no way that Aigis would do anything funny. Absolutely no way, no how. I trust her.

Junpei, on the other hand…

Him + pretty girl + unsupervised + Raging teenage hormones = … He wouldn't _dare_…

…

I think I better follow them, just to be safe…

* * *

After following them onto the bus, through the train station and into Paulownia Mall, the only thing that had "happened" between Junpei and Aigis were a greeting and idle chatter. All other advances that Junpei had put forth had been immediately shot down by her, even if he was just joking.

"_That's my girl. No sugar for him._" I thought proudly.

I had been carefully monitoring their interactions while keeping a very precise distance from the pair, near enough that I could hear what they were saying but not so close as to risk being noticed. Not only that, I had to constantly make sure that I didn't look like I was following them, or I could be confronted by a police officer.

Damn, stalking someone is hard work.

…wait, I'm not stalking them. I'm just following them stealthily and carefully monitoring their actions just in case Junpei tries anything funny.

…Okay, fine. I _am _stalking them. Geez.

"This looks like a good store to look for one. Let's go!" my girlfriend's voice rang out, snapping me out of my trance. Fly eyes flew up just in time to see Aigis drag Junpei into Be Blue V, one of the more popular accessory stores in the mall.

"_So she did drag him along for shopping…_" I thought, leaning against the doorway and peering into the store as casually as possible. "_But what is she buying that she would take Junpei along but not me?_"

* * *

After about an hour watching my two friends dart in and out of store after store, it was obvious to me that Aigis was definitely shopping for something, though exactly what she was searching for escaped me. Nevertheless, it still bothered me that she had taken Junpei along with her instead of me.

However, as much as I wanted to continue to pursue them for as long as necessary, sneaking around the Mall while trying not to attract of the attention of Junpei, Aigis and the rest of the shoppers in Paulownia Mall was surprisingly exhausting. So it goes without saying that I was relieved when they headed to the food court for lunch.

"Thank god… I can finally rest my legs." I grumbled as I settled down in a table that was a safe distance from the one that my two friends were seated at. Even though I had my back turned to them, I was still able to steal a few glances at them at random intervals, and I could also eavesdrop on bits and pieces of their conversation.

…

No suspicious topics yet…

… I can't hear what they're saying…

…

… Wait a minute…

I leaned back just a tiny bit as a familiar sly grin that I never really liked crept onto my best friend's face.

"So how's it coming along with Minato-kun? Is he… _satisfying_ you?"

The words that were uttered with such a sly and teasing voice echoed in my head as my eyes widened in shock…

Then in anger.

"_I AM GOING TO KILL HIM_." I thought as rage enveloped my psyche. "How DARE he-"

"Oh, how the mighty have fallen… Stalking your girlfriend while she's out with a friend, Minato? I never knew you could sink so low…" A very familiar and very disappointed voice mused from behind me as a firm hand took hold of my left shoulder.

I quickly turned my head to see a tall, slightly pale teen male with shoulder-length brown hair in his usual burgundy jacket, brown beanie and black pants staring down at me, a slight frown spread across his face that simply radiated chagrin.

"Oh. Uh… Shinji-senpai… fancy running into you here…" I stuttered, smiling up nervously at him.

"Cut the crap, Minato," he snapped as he quickly took a seat in front of me. "Now tell me what the hell you're doing or I blow your cover right now."

"But-"

"One." He deadpanned, his dark brown eyes drilling holes into mine.

Damn that look was scary.

"Oh come on-"

"Two. Three strikes and you're screwed." Shinjiro continued as his monotone gained a slight edge.

"Fine…" I sighed in defeat, "I'll tell you what's going on, so can we move somewhere else so we don't get caught?"

"Works for me. You're paying though." He grinned as he rose from his seat.

Crap…

* * *

We decided to head over to Chagall Café for safety's sake since it was a full twelve-minute trek away from the food court, and also because Shinji had decided to take pity on my near-empty wallet. After we had gotten settled in, I proceeded to recount the day's events to my brown-haired senpai, who quietly sipped on a single cup of coffee as I spoke.

"So that's why you did all this?" he asked, placing his now-empty cup on the table. "You're some kind of paranoid, you know that?"

"Huh?"

"Let me ask you something." He sighed, donning a serious expression that looked almost threatening. "How long have you and Iori-kun been friends?"

"What does that-" I began, but stopped stiff when I saw anger flaring in my senpai's eyes.

"Answer the question, Minato." He growled menacingly.

"Since the second grade."

"And do you think he's a good friend?"

"Well, he certainly has his faults, but all in all he's a pretty decent guy."

"So then… if Iori is such a decent fellow, coupled with the fact that he's one of your best friends, on what notion do you find any justification for believing that he would try to make a move on your girlfriend?" the tall Aragaki male finished, looking at me as if he were amused by my inability to respond.

"…Damn it." I groaned, unable to think of anything better to say.

Shinjiro chuckled in response to my brief outburst, but silently toyed with a packet of sugar as he waited for me to continue.

"…But how can I do anything else _except_ go crazy when something like this happens?" I finally mumbled a few minutes later. "I… really like Aigis, you know? I couldn't help it."

"Minato, anyone who has a properly functioning mind can tell that the two of you are crazy for each other. Heck, I'd even go as far as to say that the two of you are in love." My friend grinned as he reached over and shook my shoulder. "Mitsuru and Aki see that. Junpei, Yukari and Fuuka can see that. Everyone in the goddamn school can see it." He chuckled.

"No way." I gawked, my eyes widening in surprise and horror.

"Well, it's kind of hard to miss considering how much time you two spend together, holding hands, eating lunch, giggling and laughing and all that other stuff." my brown-haired senpai chuckled, grinning from ear to ear as my face reddened in embarrassment. "Even some of the teachers have been talking about you two in the administration office!" he laughed as I slammed my face into the table to hide my shame.

"Seriously?" I asked, even though my request was muffled by my face being pressed into the tabletop.

"I've heard everything from "They look adorable together!" to "How shameless…", although it's mostly the female teachers who gossip about your relationship."

"Oh god…"

"My point is that since so many people know how much you two love each other, no one, especially your best friend, would be heartless enough to try to interfere with a relationship like yours. You get what I'm saying?" Shinji asked, smiling triumphantly.

It was a total defeat. When I really sat down and thought about it, there was no way that Junpei would try to steal my girlfriend away from me, not in a million years. Not that Aigis would ever let him, but that's beside the point.

"Now, I'm no psychiatrist-"

"Though you're great at helping people with their problems."

"That I am." Shinji chuckled, "But it seems to me like you just got incredibly jealous, and so the fear that stemmed from that jealousy clouded your judgment enough to make you believe that Junpei would actually try to make a move on Aigis."

"That sounds about right…" I mused, "But you really sounded like a professional psychologist right now, you know? So what do you recommend me to do now, doctor?"

"Hmm…" he droned as he stroked an imaginary beard. "I would suggest that you go home right now and calm yourself a little more. Then the next time that you see Aigis-san, bring it up casually and let her give her reasons for hanging out with Iori-kun today."

"That sounds like good advice, Doctor Aragaki." I joked, inciting a wide grin from my senpai.

"Mmm, yes. Now take this prescription and call me in the morning." He smirked, handing me the check before he rose from his seat and left.

Crap.

* * *

It had taken me about forty minutes to return back home, but now… all I could do was wait. I hadn't taken into consideration that the next time I saw Aigis could be any time… it could be a day, maybe a week or-

BZZT. BZZT. BZZT.

I jumped, startled, as my phone went off in my pocket. I hurriedly took it out, fumbling to answer the call.

"Hello?"

"Minato-kun?"

What the…

"Aigis?"

"Are you busy?"

"N-not really… why?"

"Do you mind if I come over to your house for a while? I... have a surprise for you."

"S-sure… see you soon then." I stammered as I hung up the phone.

Oh crap… I'm not ready for this.

I flopped down on my bed miserably as I bemoaned my difficult situation. How was I going to ask her what she was doing with Junpei? Should I just blurt it out or try to sneak it into a conversation? How is she going to react? What happens if she gets mad at me?

And where the hell is Yukari's extremely helpful advice in my time of need!?

I ripped my cell phone out of my pocket and dialed like a madman, typing my extensive plea for help while I also explained the day's events. After typing into my cell phone for what seemed to be an hour (even though it was only 4 minutes), I finally completed my message and hit the "Send" button.

Yukari's reply came surprisingly quickly.

" A friend's house; doing important girl stuff; don't bother me."

…

…

WHAT THE HELL!?

Oh dear god… I'M SCREWED!

BZZT. BZZT. BZZT.

My mental anguish was interrupted as my phone went off a second time, and I saw, to my relief, that Yukari had sent a second reply, which read:

"Done. Alright then, my advice to you is that you should probably bring up the question casually, and most importantly CALMLY. Let her explain what happened today, and react to what she says appropriately. And if she gets pissed, that's your own fault, but if you explain the situation truthfully, I think she'll be okay with what you did. I'll be home by eight, so please get dinner started unless something really bad happens."

I could hear a hallelujah chorus echoing inside my mind as I read the text message. Finally, a beacon of hope, a ray of light at the end of the tunnel, a-

BZZT. BZZT. BZZT.

"You really should be solving your own problems though." Yukari's third and final text message read.

Okay, that was low… true, but low.

* * *

After forty minutes of writhing in mental anguish, banging my head against the wall and quivering with the overwhelming fear that Aigis was going to hate me for what I had done today, I finally managed to think up a practicable plan for how to handle the situation once Aigis arrived at my house.

(A/N: Practicable = can do it; Practical: can and should do it)

So, judging that it had taken me about forty minutes to trek back from Paulownia Mall to my home, I figured that Aigis would be ringing the doorbell any minute.

So as the clock clicked onto 2:47 p.m., I began waiting for my girlfriend to arrive.

And so I waited.

… And waited.

… And waited some more.

…

…

… Okay, this is taking way too long, where the heck-

DING DONG.

Oh.

I bolted out of my room the second the doorbell sounded, nearly slamming into the couch as I rushed to the front door. I did manage to inadvertently hit my knee on the coffee table as I ran past it, although I forced myself to ignore the pain as I unlatched the door.

"Hello~" Aigis beamed, smiling brightly at me as she walked through the doorway.

Ah… how I love that smile… No! I need to focus! Stick to the plan!

"So how's your day been so far?"

"It's been quite pleasant, actually." she replied as she took a seat on the couch.

I decided to pause as I took my place beside her before I continued.

"Were you doing anything?" I asked quietly as that nervous fear came itching at my spine again.

"Actually, I went shopping with Junpei-san today. He was helping me pick out a gift for you." Aigis responded with absolutely no hesitation or fear.

… Well that was anti-climactic. I was at least expecting her to pause a little bit before she answered.

… Hold on, what? She was doing what?

"You… went shopping for what now?" I asked, my former fear being quickly replaced with confusion.

"I bought you a gift, but I needed a second opinion from Junpei-san to make sure that you'd like it."

"Actually, it was a bit embarrassing for me… I should know what you like and don't like, and yet I still had to ask Junpei-san to help me pick out your present." She continued, chuckling sheepishly as she handed me a black rectangular box about an inch thick and as long as my forearm. I slowly opened the mysterious container to find… a very, very nice wristwatch that was quite shiny, looked like it was made from some very nice metal and had an intricate design on the rim of the clock. And it definitely looked like it cost more than a pretty penny.

"Junpei-san said you've been trying to get a new wristwatch but haven't had the time to, so… I hope you enjoy it…" she blushed.

I could only stare at the package that I held in my hand with stunned happiness. My brain was too shocked with relief to function properly, so it was time for me to start blurting out the first things that came to mind.

"So this is what you were looking for with Junpei? Wow, I followed you two all morning for nothing. My suspicions were totally off!" I chuckled.

…

…

Oh shit. I did NOT say that out loud.

Well, there goes plans A through E…

"You did… what?" Aigis asked, her barely audible voice quivering with what I assumed to be disbelief, sorrow, or possibly rage.

Crap, there goes my plan…

"I-I can explain-"

"Why…?"

As she looked at me with those tearful, deep azure orbs that I loved, now full of intense hurt and sorrow, I couldn't help regretting the actions that I had taken today. And I mean _really_ regretting it. I… honestly felt lower than dirt. Lower than the Earth's crust. Lower than magma, lower than- well, you get the idea.

"Why does it… why is it that you still can't trust me? I… I trust you with all of my heart… a-and yet…"

"Aigis… I'm sorry, I-"

"I-if… after this long… if you're still unable to fully trust me… i-if I s-still haven't earned your trust, th-then maybe we should just…" she sobbed, her voice beginning to crack as the tears freely flowed from her tightly shut eyes.

"W-wait! What are you-"

"…m-maybe we… shouldn't be together anymore…"

…

…

… Did I hear that right?

The devastating feeling of utter loss that enveloped me as my jaw slackened and dropped was a certain indication that I had heard Aigis correctly. And to be honest, the fear that was now wrapped around my mind really scared the living shit out of me.

"Y-you don't mean… you're not serious… are you?"

An empty silence filled the house as my blonde-haired companion apparently refused to respond. As she hung her head silently the sound of the wall clock ticking away the time resounded through my otherwise empty house as I awaited her response.

Tick…

Tock…

Tick…

Tock…

Tick…

Okay, this is just plain _torture_. At this rate it's going to drive me cra-

"I… I think I am. Serious about… what I said, I mean."

Damn.

… Okay, NOW I feel absolutely hollow. No, scratch that…

I think my heart's been torn right out of my chest.

"… I should leave now." Aigis murmured, quietly rising from her seat beside me.

"… Wait." I said, quickly taking hold of her wrist before she could move away. "I-"

"… You do not want me to break up with you?" Aigis asked, her voice sounding surprisingly cold. "Then please explain to me the reasons you had for stalking me for most of the morning and for the first few hours of the afternoon."

Oh dear god… this is going to be hard.

As Aigis retook her place beside me, I desperately attempted to think of a way to describe why I had chased after she had left her home without making myself seem like an ass.

After five minutes passed my mind was still blank.

"… Have you organized your explanation yet?" Aigis asked with a blank stare on her face.

"… Uh… not really." I laughed embarrassedly as I prayed that she would wait a little longer.

Sadly, my prayers went unanswered.

"I'll be going then." she murmured as she rose from the couch for the second time, an air of finality about her as she did so.

"Goodbye."

That one word pierced my heart like no bullet, knife or any other weapon could have. And at that moment, I felt true and utter despair.

"_No… This can't be happening"_ I thought to myself as I sank to the floor.

Today was supposed to be perfect… I was going to go out with Aigis, and-

Ah… I got too comfortable, didn't I? I took for granted the assumption that she would she would always be with me… that our feelings for each other would allow us to overcome any mistake that would, could be made…

My pride swelled too much… and I couldn't let our relationship end like this just because of my stupidity. At the very least, I was going to tell her the truth before she walked out on me.

"… I was jealous…" I mumbled, my words stopping Aigis a few feet before the front door.

"Pardon?" she asked, glancing over her shoulder at me.

"I was jealous, okay!?" I shouted desperately as I rose back onto my feet. "I'm so madly in love with you that when I saw you going somewhere with Junpei without telling me it drove me insane! It made me so crazy that I actually deluded myself into thinking that you were going to go on a date with him or something!! But I'm sorry, alright? I never should have done it, and I'm really, really sorry…"

…

Okay, I wanted to tell her the truth, but I didn't mean to say _that_ much. I really need to stop these mindless outbursts…

Still, everything that I said was absolutely true.

… Honestly, a week ago, I was still considering whether or not I was truly in love with her. Now I'm using that to try and save our relationship.

God… I must sound pathetic.

A dangerously empty silence filled the house as we stood there, neither of us making a single move. The true implications of what I had just done finally hit me in the face, and for a few minutes I couldn't look Aigis in the eye, although I could see from her body language that she was clearly shocked.

When I finally mustered up the courage to look my blonde-haired companion in the face, I saw a very, very strange look in her eyes.

Shock, fear, surprise and confusion were the most prominent feelings that I saw reflected in her perfect blue eyes.

…Say, that expression looks familiar.

Wait, didn't she also have that look when I told her about that dream…?

Oh dear god.

The second her gaze met mine her eyes widened, and the both of us made a mad dash for the door. I just barely managed to slip past her outstretched arm and blocked her access to the door with my body a split second before she reached the handle.

"NO! Let me go! Please!" she shouted, desperately beating on my chest with her fists.

I stood there and took the beating, waiting patiently for her to run out of energy. A few seconds later, she finally caved, stopping her assault as she sank to her knees, sobbing softly.

"Aigis… come on…" I pleaded, kneeling down to meet her gaze. "You did this before, so let's just talk about what's bothering-"

"I-I told you…" she sobbed as her head hung limp, her entire body shaking as she cried. "I told you that I wouldn't be able to be a good girlfriend for you..."

"What makes you say that?"

"I don't know how to respond to that!" she wailed. "I want to say "I love you" too, but I don't know if I really feel that way! I don't know what the feeling of love is! I only know what it is to like you!"

I really couldn't think of how I should respond to her outburst, so I just wrapped my arms around the sobbing girl and let her cry into my shoulder.

"I don't care about any of that." I murmured softly into her ear once her sobbing had resided.

"How can you not care!?" she shouted, her voice echoing in the empty hall as she pushed me away enough for her to meet my gaze again. "How can I just sit here without knowing how to reciprocate your feelings? How can I live with myself knowing that you have to suffer without the knowledge of whether or not I feel the same way? Tell me how!" she screamed as desperation and confusion began to leak into her voice.

"Well… to be honest, it's a little saddening that you don't know if you love me or not-"

"See!?"

"-but, I understand how your circumstances would make it difficult for you to figure out whether or not you feel the same way about me, and how difficult it is to not know something so important… And I want you to know that I'll be more than happy to wait for your response for as long as you need to think about it." I continued.

"But why?" she asked, her voice a faint whisper as she looked up at me with wide eyes. "How can you wait indefinitely for my answer? Even if it means that I my feelings may not be as strong as yours?"

"It's because I want you to find your feelings at your own pace and in your own time. If you don't find them on your own or if we rush it you may jump to the wrong conclusion, so you may not find what you actually feel."

"Ah…" she murmured as her gaze slowly softened. "I see…"

"And besides," I smiled, leaning my head in to press my forehead to hers, "you can't really know when you're in love until it's the right time… so let's just treasure what we have right now, and when the time comes you can tell me what your true feelings for me are."

Silence filled the hall once again as we stood in each others' embrace, and I savored the feel of her hands as they gentle pressed against my back, the smooth feel of her forehead against mine, the golden cascade of hair that tried but failed to hide the deep blush spread across her face…

They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder… well, I think that this girl standing in my arms is absolutely perfect. And I won't allow anyone else to tell me otherwise.

"I think you're too kind to me…" she mumbled after a while.

"That's what I do. I'm your boyfriend." I chuckled as I gently placed a kiss on her forehead.

"…Minato-kun?"

"Yes, Aigis?"

"Promise that you will stay by me until I figure out how I really feel about you. Even if I have a fit of insanity and scream at you to leave me, please don't… because even if I don't know whether or not I truly love you, I…"

She paused briefly to look up at me, her eyes nearly glowing with warmth and affection, her soft and beautiful smile radiant and gentle, and her expression so full of adoration that it made my heart skip a beat.

"I do know that I'm happiest when I'm with you… I know that when you hold my hand, when you hug me, when smile at me, my heart and my entire body fills with this gentle warmth that I cannot even begin to describe… and when we kiss, I feel as if I could do anything and overcome any obstacle with no trouble at all…"

"A-and I… also want to be by your side for as long as possible, so I can continue to cherish these feelings for as long as I can, so… please…" she gripped my shirt tightly, as if she feared that I would slip away if she loosened her hold. "Please stay with me… for as long as you can tolerate me…"

"Of course." I smiled, pulling her into my embrace once again. "I'll always be here for you."

As she buried her head into my collarbone for the second time we made our way back over to the couch, where we sat together in relative silence.

I debated turning on the TV, but that idea was shot down when I realized that my girlfriend had fallen asleep on my shoulder, as per the usual.

Should I wake her up… or maybe not?

…

Screw it. I could use a nap too.

And with that, I leaned my head to the side, rested my head against my girlfriend's, and slowly drifted off to sleep…

* * *

The loud buzzing of my cell phone woke me from my extremely peaceful rest, and I groggily fumbled with my pocket to pull the damn thing out.

"I'm going to be sleeping over my friend's house tonight. Already came to pick up my clothes, you two look cute sleeping together but keep it down to a minimum. –Yukari"

What?

…That was unexpected…

I rubbed my eyes sleepily as my gaze wandered over the wall in front of me, taking in the various wall ornaments and pictures, and finally coming to a slow halt on the wall clock quietly ticking away.

6:23 p.m. …

Wait, WHAT!?

"Oh, damn!" I hissed, attempting to slap myself on the head only to be stopped by my girlfriend, amused to find her still slumbering peacefully against my arm.

Well that's all fine and dandy, but at this rate I won't be able to get Aigis home for her father's strict 6:45 curfew…

Greaaaaat… Big Daddy Kensuke gets to crush my face in… woo.

"Aigis, wake up." I whispered, gently shaking my girlfriend's shoulder only to have her tighten her grip on my arm.

Okay, that didn't work… time for a different approach.

I snaked my free arm over to her side, tickling her ribs until she awoke suddenly in a fit of laughter.

"Why did you wake me up like that?" she pouted, and hit my arm lightly. "I was enjoying-"

"Enjoying…?"

"… Never mind." she blushed, turning away quickly. "It was nothing."

"What? Were you going to say that you liked sleeping with me on the couch?" I joked. However, I was quite surprised when she turned away with an embarrassed nod.

"Wow… all right…"

"…"

Our brief moment of hesitant silence was interrupted by the loud buzzing of a cell phone. The noise caused the both of us to jump slightly, and the couch creaked in protest as we searched our pockets.

"My dad is calling." Aigis said worriedly.

Oh, bloody frickin' hell.

I could only wait in fearful anticipation as I watched my girlfriend quietly converse with her father.

Oh, this is not good.

This is not good at all.

This is not good this is not good this is not good this is not good this is-

"W-what??"

Her sudden outburst snapped me back to attention, and I began to quiver in horror at the possible causes for her cry.

"I can't ask him that!"

Oh crap.

"But isn't that a bit rude? And it also seems really intrusive…"

Double crap.

"Well, if you're certain that it will be okay, I'll ask…" she sighed.

RED ALERT! RED ALERT! IMMINENT DOOM APPROACHING! RTFA AND HIDE!!!

"Minato-kun? May I ask you something?" she asked as she slowly lowered the phone from her ear.

I think I failed to sense the nervousness in her voice due to the fact that I had pretty much lost my mind due to the insane fear bouncing around in my mind.

"Y-yes…?" I asked, very much afraid of the next words that going to come out of her mouth.

"Uh… my father says that he has to cover for one of his friends from the night shift…"

"Okay…"

"And he doesn't want me to be all alone at home for… safety reasons…"

"Uhuh…"

"And he was wondering if you would be kind enough to let me spend the night here…" she finished, her cheeks reddening slightly as she did.

Oh that wasn't that bad…

Wait…

Did Aigis just ask if she could sleep over? At my house? OVERNIGHT??

How exactly should I take this…?

"Uh… it will be okay if you can't…" Aigis murmured, noticing the shock in my expression. "I can just-"

"Sure, I'd love to have you over." I replied automatically.

"Is it really all right?" she questioned, eyeing me worriedly. "I wouldn't want to intrude on your evening…"

"Don't worry about it. It's fine by me." I smiled. Without thinking. AGAIN.

Wow. I really need to stop these mindless outbursts, they'll get me killed one of these days…

I just hope I won't get in trouble with Yukari for this…

* * *

After Aigis had confirmed the situation with her dad, she hurried back to her house to gather her toiletries, nightwear and the like. Following her departure, I frantically texted Yukari to make sure that she wouldn't maul me for having Aigis over for the evening.

"Don't try anything funny. Or else." she replied, and even though her message could not convey the emotions behind her words I could feel a noose tightening around my neck. Not that I was even thinking of doing anything strange, but I now had extra motivation not to.

Since it was getting late, I decided to start cooking dinner for the both of us. A warm smell of cooking food permeated through the house as I began preparing our meal. By the time Aigis returned with her belongings, I had two plates of chicken cutlet and rice ready to eat, coupled with a side of shredded seaweed. Nothing too fancy, but it should fit the bill.

Since neither of us seemed interested sitting at the dinner table, we decided to eat on the couch in front of the TV. An uncomfortable silence set in while we ate, the news announcer on the screen prattling on about things we really didn't care about.

"…"

"…"

"…"

"… _Okay, I can't take this standstill anymore._" I grumbled mentally as I began to get a little nervous from the lack of conversation. "_I want to do something to lighten the mood... but what?_"

"..."

"…"

As I continued contemplating my next course of action, I failed to notice that Aigis stealthily edging closer and closer to me. I only realized what was happening when she shifted her body to lean against mine and rested her head against my collarbone.

"What are you doing?"

"I am resting against you. Can't you tell?" she smiled, nuzzling against me.

"I see." I chuckled, putting my arm around my girlfriend's shoulder.

I really don't think I have anything to worry about…

Tonight just might turn out all right...

* * *

Despite the massive clutter in the house guest room, I managed to tidy up the room and cleared out all of the junk on the bed while Aigis made preparations to go to sleep. After I showed my girlfriend to her bedroom, I slipped into my favorite pair of black jogging pants and navy t-shirt, brushed my teeth, and went to my bedroom to go to sleep as well.

It was only a short while later that I heard a quiet knock at my door. I groggily sauntered over to my door, and was somewhat surprised to see Aigis outside of my bedroom, fidgeting nervously in a white nightgown with a cute but simple dotted pattern on it.

"Yes?" I asked sweetly, causing the blonde-haired girl's eyes to dart away briefly before meeting my gaze.

"I… uh… mmm…" she stammered, struggling to speak her mind before clamping her mouth shut and looking away embarrassedly.

"Too nervous to sleep by yourself?"

From the way that she flinched when I asked that question, I knew that I had hit the bull's-eye of the situation.

"Come on in." I sighed, widening the gap in the doorway to allow my girlfriend passage into my room. The dim whirring of my ceiling fan filled my room as I slid onto my bed, the bedsprings squeaking as I laid down.

"…"

"…"

"… Um… where do I sleep?" Aigis questioned nervously, still standing sheepishly in front of the doorway.

"Isn't it obvious?" I mumbled, moving so that one half of my bed was left free.

"I… don't think it is… maybe you're suggesting that you want me to-"

"I'm not letting you sleep on the floor" I mumbled impatiently, "so hop in already. We can sleep back to back if it makes you more comfortable." I finished, patting the empty space behind me.

"I… well… is it really okay?" she asked, a nervous tone edging into her voice.

"Sure."

My bedroom filled with an empty silence again, save the occasional shuffle of my girlfriend's feet as she inched her way towards my bed. Finally, after three minutes that seemed like an eternity, I finally felt the bed shift slightly behind me as Aigis took her place on the bed, and her back pressed against mine as she moved into a more comfortable position.

"…"

"…"

"… g'night Aigis."

"Sleep well, Minato-kun."

"No more 'just Minato'?" I joked.

"… It feels more proper for me to address you with "kun" attached to your name. Does that bother you?"

"Not at all," I laughed, "so long as I can hear you saying my name I don't care what you call me. Except Mina-chan. The rights to that nickname are reserved only for Yuuka-san. I will not tolerate anyone else calling me that."

"Is that so?" my girlfriend giggled.

"Yes. It is so." I huffed. And that was that.

A calm silence filled the room as I closed my eyes in an attempt to fall asleep. However, the unusual presence of the warm body pressed against my back was much too distracting, and after several minutes of listening to her soft breathing I still couldn't manage to lose consciousness.

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…Are you still awake?" I murmured, unsure if I would even get a response.

"Yes. I have not fallen asleep yet." came my companion's brief yet surprising reply. "My position isn't very comfortable, to tell you the truth." she laughed.

"Oh. Sorry." I began embarrassedly. "Let me move-"

"I have a suggestion."

"And that would be…?"

"Turn around." she replied simply.

The sound of my bed's slight squeaks of protest briefly filled the room as I shifted my weight as I complied with Aigis' instructions.

"Okay, now wha-"

And that's as far as I got before I was met with the surprisingly calm visage of my girlfriend, who was also lying on her side to face me, thus putting us in a position that could only be properly described as "sleeping in each others' arms".

"Much better." she yawned contentedly as she nuzzled her head against my chest.

My mind was essentially in complete shock, and not just because Aigis had wrapped her arms around my neck while mine had decided to place themselves around my girlfriend's waist. The only other thing that was properly processed was that the position that I was in right now could easily warrant my death by Yukari's hands if she caught us.

"Um… Aigis?"

"Yes?" she asked, her breath sending a blissful shiver down my spine as it made contact with my collarbone.

Must… fight… evil thoughts…

"Isn't this position a little… much?" I stammered in my uncertainty as how to properly word my question.

"You do not like it?"

"N-no, I do, but-"

"This is… cuddling, correct?"

"…What?" I replied flatly. How the hell does she know what cuddling is? What kind of manga has she been reading!?

"This is the proper thing to do when a couple sleeps in the same bed, right?" she asked, her eyes glowing slightly as they caught the dim moonlight that shone through my window.

"But only serious couples do these things…" I protested.

"… You said you love me, right?"

"I did say that, but-"

"Then isn't it safe to say that you are "serious about me"?"

"I- I suppose so, but-"

"You're concerned because I do not feel as strongly yet?" she questioned, a slight tone of triumphant understanding edging its way into her voice.

"Yes…" I replied, feeling somewhat vulnerable since she could read me so easily.

"Honestly, this position is very embarrassing for me as well. But…"

She paused briefly as she tenderly reached up to brush a few strands of hair away from my eyes, and then quietly met my gaze. After a few moments of silence, she smiled contently before she slowly pulled her hand back, the tips of her fingers lightly brushing against my cheek as she did so.

"… You are… very, very precious to me…" she continued nervously. "So… even if I do not love you yet… even if my social ineptitudes will bar us from having a normal relationship… even if methods of expressing my affection for you such as what we are doing right now make me embarrassed beyond words…"

"I would still like to be able to hold you like a normal girlfriend would…"

"I would like to make our relationship as normal as possible so that you will not have to concern yourself about my inabilities and shortcomings…"

"I want to do whatever I can to make you as happy as possible…"

"So… please… grant me just this one request… please let me sleep with you like this." she finished softly, pressing herself against me even more tightly.

…Well, damn. How could I say no after such a heartfelt speech? I'd have to be some kind of heartless to refuse her.

"Sure…" I sighed. "But please realize that Yukari _will_ kill me if she finds us like this tomorrow morning."

"I will not allow her to harm you."

"Pardon?"

"I will explain tonight's events to Yukari-san in the morning, and if she continues to pursue physical punishment then I will protect you." she declared, gripping my shirt tightly.

"I'll be counting on you." I laughed, causing my girlfriend to bury her head into my chest even more.

As my fatigue finally began to set in, I couldn't help but notice how tightly Aigis clung to me, as if she believed that I would slip away if she loosened her hold; the warmth of her body as she snuggled against me and the light scent of perfume that filled my senses as her rhythmic breathing slowly soothed my mind. And it still amazed me just how far she was willing to go to do what she thought would make me happy.

She claims that I'm too kind to her, but… it's times like these that I feel like I'm still not doing enough for her…

* * *

I awoke to the sounds of the world around me. Raindrops pummeling my window, birds chirping as they took shelter on the nearby tree, the low humming of the AC, the sound of Aigis mumbling cutely in her sleep as her head rested against my shoulder-

"Ahem."

Ahem?

I groggily rubbed my eyes as I struggled to sit up, scanning my room for the source of the odd sound through squinting eyes.

Nothing out of the ordinary… nothing… nothing… nothing… pink cardigan… nothing… noth-

Pink…?

Oh _shit_.

My eyes flew open in horror and disbelief as I prayed to God, Kami-sama and whoever the heck else is up there that I was imagining things. However, I am neither delusional nor mentally disturbed enough for that to actually happen, and so my gaze met the eyes of one very pissed off Yukari Takeba with a grin on her face that clearly said "You are DEAD."

"Good morning" she hummed in a tone so full of false sweetness that it was actually very frightening, "Did you sleep well?"

"Y-yes… B-but I-"

"Can you get out of the bed, please?" she asked, though I knew that I didn't really have much of a choice but to do as she said.

The bedsprings squeaked softly as I slowly maneuvered my way off of my bed, taking extra care not to wake Aigis up with my movements. After I got onto my feet Yukari forcefully guided me out of my bedroom, where I knew she was pretty much going to execute me.

"Yukari, I swear I didn't-" I began to defend my case, but stopped immediately when my brown-haired stepsister shot me a gaze that seethed quiet rage.

"What did I tell you _not_ to do last night?" she asked, her voice sending deathly chills through my body as she spoke.

"… You said not to do anything funny or weird." I sighed. "But-"

"And what does you and Aigis sleeping in the same bed constitute as?"

"…Something weird."

This will not end well for me.

"And what does that warrant?"

"… Divine punishment?"

"Yep." Yukari smiled, and began to prepare the fatal punch.

Time seemed to slow itself as Yukari's fist made its way to my jaw, giving me a few brief moments for some final thoughts before I was sent to the eternal abyss.

Figuratively, of course.

"_I should have seen this coming…_"

"_Oh well, at least I got to sleep together with Aigis last night… no! Away, evil thoughts! BEGONE!"_

_"So much for her protecting me then. Though I doubt she could actually stop Yukari from hitting me..."_

"… _This is going to hurt, isn't it?"_

"… _Hey wait a minute… Yukari still hasn't given me back the 1500 yen she borrowed from me last-_"

WHAM.

Crrk.

I think my nose broke.

Takeba Yukari. WINS. Fatality.

... No, wait, I'm still conscious.

I groaned as I painfully attempted to stabilize myself, but a sharp jab shot through my elbow that collapsed my arm in my attempt.

"Huh... looks like you took that one pretty well." Yukari beamed, cracking her knuckles as she loomed over me. "Ready for round two?"

Oh come _on_.

"Wait!" a familiar voice wailed as a blonde-headed blur threw itself on top of me.

"Great timing." I grinned as I gazed into the frantic face of my girlfriend.

"I'm so sorry! ...Oh, you're hurt!" she cried, beginning to fuss over me desperatly. "Hold on, I-"

"Good morning, Aigis." Yukari said with sweet-poison-dipped cheer. "I'm not quite done punishing-"

"Ah, about that..."

"_I'm saved..._" I breathed a deep sigh of relief as Aigis began to explain the night's events to the still-fuming brunette towering over me.

Yay, I'm not dead!

* * *

Phew. More than 8,300 words… hope this made up for the delay, so don't forget to read and review ^w^ Also, I hope the romance bits weren't too sappy. If they were, a thousand apologies.

And I'll try to have the next chapter out sooner… sorry -_- Life sucks like that =P


	13. Painful Downs

I apologize to all of my readers for the previous submission of Chapter 13, and for the delay in this one. It was rushed and not up to the standards that I normally put, and I realize that I should not sacrifice quality for more updates. So here's the new and improved Chapter 13 of Let Me Be with You, and I hope you all enjoy it. And please feel free to drop a review. Also, it's incredibly long, which I hope makes up for the delay and the screw-up. ^w^

* * *

**Let Me Be With You**

**Chapter 13: Painful Downs **

"_Why, why, WHY am I stuck here?_" I whined mentally as I sifted through yet another stack of paperwork, though I was able to prevent my discomfort from spreading to my face.

I was currently holed up in the Student Council room, buried neck-deep in a massive pile of budget estimates, material costs and all sorts of club-related nonsense, angrily asking myself how I had gotten myself into this bothersome situation.

To answer that question, we merely need to look but a mere two and a half weeks into the past, on the middle of the second week of school.

_Flashback_

The second semester had begun once again in Gekkoukan High, and as a proud second-year student I was happily enjoying being reunited with many familiar faces, both student and faculty. I was on my way to my homeroom to hang out with Aigis when the familiar clacking of high heels behind me piqued my curiosity enough to make me stop.

"Ah, Minato-san. May I have a moment of your time?"

I turned around to be met with worried look of the slightly distressed Mitsuru Kirijo, who was currently biting her nails, an act of which I had never seen her perform.

Something must be wrong.

"Mitsuru-senpai, good morning." I greeted, bowing slightly. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"You don't have to be so formal, Minato-san. You may address me Mitsuru-san if it suits you better." she smiled. "But back to the matter at hand…"

"I have a… request, if you don't mind." she began. "You see, seeing as how the new school year has just begun, there's a large amount of paperwork to be done for all of the sports and arts clubs… and a good deal of that paperwork has to be handled by the student council."

"Yes…"

"And, unfortunately… there aren't enough student council members for us to be able to handle such a massive workload… mainly because the majority of the students who we recruited last year pulled out…"

I can see where this is going… and I don't like the looks of it.

"And I was hoping that you might consider helping us process the paperwork until we are able to get some new recruits." she finished, holding her arm as a guilty expression spread through her features.

"I… uh…"

"I will understand if you don't wish to join, even if only for a short while." my red-haired senpai continued. "I know that you have a strong relationship with Miss Yamada, so I…"

Mitsuru paused, her hands clasped together in frustration as she fumbled with her words.

Kirijo Mitsuru… fumbling with her words… a prospect that I previously thought impossible yet was occurring before my very eyes…

Oh dear god, she must be freaking out inside.

A tense silence formed between us as I debated my next course of action. I wasn't especially close to Mitsuru-senpai the way I was with Aigis, Yukari and Junpei, but…

A friend in need is a friend indeed… oh God, I'm going to regret this…

"You don't have to make a decision now, but-"

"I'll do it." I declared, ignoring the sense of impending suffering that slithered down my spine as I said those words. "I'll help out after school until all of the club paperwork is done."

"Thank you very much. You don't know how big of a help this will be." Mitsuru breathed, relief and gratitude quickly replacing the worry in her expression. "And I promise, it will only be for a short while." she smiled, before departing from the classroom with a brief farewell.

_End Flashback_

"Yep… only a little while longer." I murmur to myself, snapping myself back to reality. The paperwork wasn't horrendously difficult, but… with only two other student council members besides Mitsuru-senpai and me, the workload that loomed before us was quite fearsome. And the fact that Mitsuru took it upon herself to go out to recruit new members meant that the gigantic pile of paperwork had to be divided between myself, one Nakamura-san, and the apparent supervisor of the Student Council, Hidetoshi Odagiri. Needless to say, none of us were too thrilled being stuck sifting through this insurmountable pile of shredded trees.

Of course, Aigis wasn't very pleased when I told her the "big news", but she was surprisingly understanding of my desire to help Mitsuru-senpai in her time of need. So in order to maintain our tradition of walking home together, she agreed to wait in the library for me until I was finished with Council duties, a gesture which I greatly appreciated and recognized as a large favor for me from the goodness of her heart. Even so, the brief time that I was able to spend with her after school just barely satisfied my desire to spend time with her.

The first week that I had been helping out with student council, the aura of the room had been somewhat optimistic, and my comrades in arms were rather friendly in the beginning when friendly banter would be tossed across the room as we worked. Though the Student Council was only supposed to meet on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, we had to work every day after school since the workload was so large. Still, it was in good company, so we didn't really mind at first.

By the second week it was clear that we had barely made a dent in the monolith of to-be-sorted. Although it wasn't necessarily hard work, the amount of files that we had to dig through was… just too much for the three of us.

And so we enter the third week of this… this paper and ink hell of ours, and as a collective group we were just completely demoralized by this "Mission Impossible" of ours.

No, not demoralized. Completely exasperated with this endless task, that's a more appropriate description of how we feel.

"Arisato-san, please keep your head up." Hidetoshi droned from behind his own mountain of forms and official documents. "You'll fall asleep if you keep your head down."

"All right, all right…" I couldn't help but sigh, the sound reverberating slightly in the otherwise empty council room as I lifted my head from the desk. "This is getting really old, you know that?"

"Don't you think we all feel the same way?"

"I… guess so…"

"…"

"…"

"Well then… back to work for me."

I started to sift through the papers once again, making sure that forms were filled out correctly, student signatures were properly written on recruitment forms and a whole bunch of nonsense like that.

Stack…

After stack…

After stack…

After stack…

After-

"Okay, that's it." I grumbled.

My chair squeaked slightly in protest as I quickly rose from my seat with a huff of frustration. "I'm going out for a bit. If I don't get some fresh air I'm going to-"

It was right at that moment that the door to the council room clacked open and Mitsuru-senpai entered with a triumphant smile on her face. She was shortly followed by a thin, delicate-looking female student (who I assumed was a freshman) with chestnut-colored hair that reached about an inch past her shoulders, whose eyes shone with surprise from behind the round rims of her glasses the moment she caught sight of the rest of the occupants of the classroom.

"We have a new recruit." Mitsuru announced proudly, motioning towards the now-quivering student behind her. "This is Fushimi Chihiro-san. She is a first-year student at our school and will be filling in the role of Council Treasurer."

Treasurer? But that's the stuff I've been handling…

So that means…

"Fushimi-san, this is Arisato Minato-san, he's been assisting us while I recruit more members. You'll be taking over Minato-san's duties." Mitsuru concluded, pointing at me.

YESSSSSSS! I'm FREE!

"Of course, I would appreciate it if you could stay for a while longer to help Miss Fushimi get settled in."

DAMN IT.

"I'd be happy to." I smiled, going along with my helpful good-guy façade despite the fact that every other cell in my body was screaming bloody murder.

"Take a seat." I smiled, patting the empty chair beside me as everyone got back to work while Mitsuru left for parts unknown. However, after a few moments with no detectable movement, I turned my head to see that the formerly quivering brown-haired girl had turned into a blushing, shaking, and frantic mess in the past few seconds.

Weird.

"Uh… Fushimi-san? Are you all right?"

"AHH!" Chihiro yelped, jumping backwards I reached out to her. "I- I'm sorry. I can handle this… by myself…"

"Uh… okay then… I'll leave this to you then." I sighed.

Despite the fact that I was a bit shaken by the bizarre outburst from my exceedingly nervous kouhai (which Nakamura and Hidetoshi had studiously ignored in favor of getting back to work) not to mention my mind's screeching protests to do otherwise, I decided to attend to a different mound of forms that sat across the now-busied young lady in order to keep an eye on her.

"Permission slips and consent forms… what fun." I thought to myself as I delved into my paper hell once again.

Truth be told, the particular stack of forms that I had decided to take care of was much easier to sort through than the material that had been taken over by Chihiro. So, since my adopted task wasn't awfully difficult to sort, I found myself with more time to keep watch over my aforementioned underclassman.

I paused every few minutes to glance up in the direction of the confounding young girl, watching for any hints of uncertainty or confusion. And yet, much to my surprise I saw the exact same sight every time I looked up from my work: Chihiro's eyes bright with concentration as she attacked her paperwork with a zeal that I had yet to see from either Nakamura or Hidetoshi.

"Wow… look at her go…" I thought, thoroughly amazed by the effort by my brown-haired kouhai was putting forth.

I have no idea how long I was staring at her work, nor was I at all aware of the fact that I _was_ staring at all. But when I finally snapped out of my little trance, I suddenly realized that I was leaning forward on my desk with my head resting on my hand. As I blinked back into full consciousness, I had to wonder how she hadn't noticed me yet.

"Still, she looks a little cute, all focused and tearing through her stack of forms…"

"Wait, why the hell am I thinking this? I already have a girlfriend-"

And it was the exact moment after that thought crossed my mind that her eyes wandered upward and met my gaze.

Her warm, chocolate-brown eyes widened in surprise as bright red blush spread across her features, the shade of crimson rivaling that of the blushes I had incited from Aigis when I had first met her. I half expected the girl to run out of the room screaming, but I let out a sigh of relief as Chihiro quietly turned away and began to fly through her paperwork with even more fervor than before, her auburn hair conveniently covering her eyes as if to shield herself from my gaze.

"That… was a cute reaction." I chuckled to myself as I quietly return to my work.

Then I slammed my head into the desk for thinking strange thoughts about Chihiro when I already have Aigis as my girlfriend.

Shame. *Slam*

Shame. *Slam*

Shame. *Slam*

* * *

The rest of the lengthy hours that were allotted to afterschool activities dragged by slowly as the four occupants of our classroom busily dealt with our individual tasks. I was just beginning to doze off for the nth time today when the glorious sound of the school bell rang like an angel's chorus, signaling my long-awaited release from Student Council.

"Well then, great work everyone; we made a lot of progress today, et cetera, et cetera… Let's just get out of here." Hidetoshi droned as he stretched his back from exhaustion.

Taking his comment as a signal for a tactical retreat, I quickly gathered my belonging from beside my metaphorical prison chair and was just about to make it outside of the classroom door-

Only to be stopped by a slight tug on the sleeve of my jacket.

Who dares to bar me from meeting with my girlfriend after a long, hard day of unpaid work? Who dares to deny me my hard-earned freedom? WHO?

I turn around ready to strike down whoever it was that halted my departure, only to be met with the sight of a certain brown-haired student clinging on to the elbow of my jacket, her downcast eyes hidden by her long, brown locks as she mumbles something incoherently.

"Can I help you…?"

I received no visible response from the silent young girl who clung to my sleeve, but the moment I tried to pull away her grip tightened and I could not free myself from her grasp.

"Fushimi-san…" I began, allowing a slight edge of annoyance to creep into my tone, "Could you please let-"

"I- I'm… sorry…"

"Beg pardon?"

Chihiro raised her head slowly while she tried desperately to avoid my gaze, her warm brown eyes struggling to remain focused on a single area.

"I… want to apologize for the way I acted earlier… I know that I treated you strangely, so… I wanted to say that I'm… really sorry."

I watched the young girl intently as her head lowered once again in a bow of apology. No matter how annoyed I was at her, I acknowledged the courage that it took for her to apologize to me in such a straightforward manner, especially since she seemed to have some strange issue dealing with me, so…

"Hey… come on. It's all right." I sighed as I slowly reached out to her, only to have her pull away from my grasp once again.

"I'm… sorry… I-I can't… let you touch me…"

I could feel my annoyance at my kouhai's strange behavior building up once again as she fearfully retreated backwards into a desk… and fell over with a loud thump and muffled yelp, the odd yet surprising display quickly replacing my frustration with worry.

"H-hey, are you all right?"

I hurry over to the fallen first-year and offer my hand which she gratefully accepts as she slowly sits up from the floor while laughing embarrassedly.

"I-I'm okay. I must have looked really foolish, huh?"

"Not at all. Accidents happen, you know?"

"I guess so."

"By the way, what were you saying about me not touching you…?"

At this comment, Chihiro's eyes widened as the light brown pupils slowly traced her arm to the place where her hand was firmly gripped in mine, and in one swift motion she jerked her hand from my grip, stood up from the gray-tiled floor, backed up again and turned away bashfully.

"This girl is really, _really _weird." I think to myself agitatedly. "First she says that I can't touch her. Then she falls over, casually takes my hand, and freaks out when she realizes it. What gives!"

"…"

"…"

"Did I do something to offend you?" I sigh, finding no other suitable way to start the conversation again.

"E-excuse me?"

"I mean, we've just met and you're acting like I'm… _infected_ with some kind of disease or something. I mean, I can understand being shy, but this is just taking it too-"

"Senpai…?"

The girl's fearful tone stops me dead in the middle of my rant. Judging from her ashamed expression, quivering shoulders, cowering form and arms against her chest as if to shield herself, I realize that I may have gone too far.

"I… I'm sor-"

"… Can you keep a secret, Senpai?"

I'm too confused by the odd nature of her question to respond properly, so I simply nod to answer her question.

"I… I'm an androphobe…"

The unfamiliar term clatters around in my mind for a few brief moments before I respond.

"Come again?"

"I… A-androphobia… it's the abnormal fear of men… it's also why I've reacted so strangely to you up until this point…"

She looks away again as if she were ashamed at what she had just admitted to me.

"Please… please don't tell anyone about this, Senpai… I'd rather keep it under wraps if at all possible…"

She slowly looks up at me with a clouded gaze, and it seems as if she'll burst into tears if I refuse her request.

Not that I was planning to, but…

"I won't tell anyone." I assure her, smiling warmly at the now-joyful Chihro. "But really, it's nothing to be ashamed of. Everyone has their own irrational fear…"

"I-I know that, but… I would rather decide who to tell by myself, so…"

"I understand. I won't say anything." I nodded, which prompted a relieved and joyous sigh from my kouhai. "But…"

"Hmm?"

"If you're so scared of men, how come you didn't seem to mind me helping you up?"

A weird chill blew through the room as I awaited Chihiro's response, although judging from the flustered expression on her face she was either having a hard time coming up with a response or her androphobia was kicking in again.

"U-umm… well, it's… kind of embarrassing…"

"You can tell me, its fine."

She paused for a brief moment to regain her composure as she took a deep breath, and hesitantly spoke after a few moments of preparation.

Sheesh, what does she want to say? It can't be _that _bad, can it?

"I-I only felt comfortable holding your hand b-because… your hands were soft…."

"Oh, that's-"

"L-like a girl's…"

The smile that was forming on my face quickly froze as I heard that statement, and the rest of the words that came out of her lips were lost to me as two powerful thoughts resounded in my mind.

One: Never let Yukari use me to test hand lotion ever again, no matter how much she pleads and begs me.

Two: This girl is just plain _weird_. She clearly has no ill intent behind her words, but… my hands are _not_ as soft as a girl's…

Aigis' hands are much softer…

My flash-frozen face thawed quickly as my mental alarms indicated that a presence that I was not familiar with had invaded my personal space. Blinking myself back into reality, I immediately noticed that Chihiro was leaning in close to me, peering at me with a look of worry in her eyes. However, she immediately initiated a hasty retreat at the first sign of life from me.

"I-I'm sorry… y-you stopped responding all of a sudden, so I got worried…"

Chihiro's cute face, flushed with embarrassment while simultaneously filled with relief that I hadn't suddenly shut down on her was too cute for me to not notice.

And so, I blanked out once again as an internal conflict raged within my mind as the chestnut-haired girl continued her apology.

_Goddamn it, she's too cute for her own good._

_Why do you care? You already have a girlfriend!_

_So I can't appreciate it when I have a cute kouhai?_

_Not this much! It's disrespectful to our relationship with Aigis!_

_Hey, what the hell do you mean "our relationship"? Aigis is mine!_

_You're one to talk. I'm the one who's defending our relationship with Aigis. If anything, she's mine!_

_Shut up!_

_No you shut up!_

_No, you!_

_No-_

"Umm… Senpai?"

"Please don't call me that." I blurt out in order to cover for my embarrassment.

"I'm… sorry?"

I could tell from the confused expression that she had been confused by my odd statement, so I continued before any misunderstandings could arise.

"Being called 'Senpai' only reminds me that I'm getting older… why don't you call me 'Minato-san' instead?"

Up until that proposal left my mouth, I had been completely confident that Chihiro could at least manage talking to me on a first-name basis.

Clearly, I underestimated the fear-inducing power of her phobia of men.

"W-W-WHAT?" the girl protested, her face now colored a fierce shade of deep crimson. "I-I CAN'T D-DO THAT!"

"Yes you can. C'mon, it's easy." I encouraged her.

The flustered first-year shook her head adamantly and backed up in a manner that nearly sent her crashing into another desk again, her eyes shut in an attempt to deny my request.

So, I simply stared at her.

"N-no."

"..."

"I-I can't…"

"…"

"W-what's wrong with calling you 'Arisato-san'?"

"That makes me feel old too…"

"Minato-san, please, you're just being-"

And those were the last words that escaped her lips before it dawned on her that she had just complied with the very thing that she had been resisting all along.

And she blinked once.

Then twice.

Then, in an instant, her face lit up like a Christmas light as her face adopted a fierce crimson hue. Clearly embarrassed, the young girl drew back as she struggled to contain herself.

And with that, she stood up, quietly muttered a quick excuse then bolted from of the room post-haste after a brief pause in front of the classroom door which she quickly flung open.

Damn, a phobia is a powerful thing…

"What happened?"

A familiar voice rang in my ears a moment before Aigis appeared in the doorway and checked the Council Room for any other occupants.

"That… was my kouhai, Fushimi-san."

"I see… why did it appear like she was fleeing the premises…?"

"I seem to have scared her off…" I murmured guiltily.

Aigis' expression didn't seem to change, but her eyebrow twitched in curiosity as she quietly approached me, her footsteps resounding in the empty classroom.

"I see…"

"It wasn't necessarily my fault though; she did say that she has a phobia of men…"

"I see…"

Taking Aigis' relatively unenthusiastic responses and odd stare as signs that she wanted to leave, I quickly gather my belongings and follow Aigis out of the deserted classroom and into the silent hallways.

* * *

We had made it all the way Iwatodai station, and yet Aigis hadn't said anything ever since we left Gekkoukan's school grounds. The only thing she had done was to take hold of my hand the moment after we left, and had yet to release it.

And yet, with that alone I could tell that something was bothering her. Aigis' expression wasn't any different than normal, yet her grip wasn't soft and affectionate like it normally was. She held my hand with the kind of firmness that told me that she wanted to say something to me, but couldn't figure out how to bring it up. Also, since her hand would occasionally quiver slightly, I figured that whatever issue Aigis wanted to bring up was important to her.

So, in the spirit of good boyfriend-ness, I decided to try and break the ice in her stead.

"Is there something you want to talk about?"

My girlfriend's hand twitched at my question, and for a brief moment she pressed her lips together as if she was ready to discuss what was on her mind. And yet, a look of hesitation flashed in her eyes the moment after, and she turned away from me as we continued our trek down the street.

As worried as I was over what could be bothering my beloved blonde-haired companion, I felt that it would be best to leave the question in the air instead of trying to elicit the truth from her. So I could do nothing except silently plod along while I waited for Aigis to respond.

As we continued our quiet trek down the road to our homes, I couldn't help myself as I took in the way Aigis' hair caught the light of the setting sun and glittered like strands of polished gold as they rose and fell in the breeze. Her eyes glowed like azure jewels and her skin shone in the light from the twilit sky, and for a moment I felt a pang of regret towards my decision to help Mitsuru-senpai.

Another thing I was reminded of was of my girlfriend was absolute and stunning beauty.

"Minato-kun… we're here."

The sound of Aigis' voice quickly drew me out of my daze, and a quick glance upward confirmed that we really had arrived at the ever-familiar Yamada household, which caused me to wonder exactly how long I had been staring at her.

And it also meant that Aigis still wasn't ready to confide in me about what was bothering her.

"I'll see you tomorrow morning. Bye."

Aigis gingerly released my hand as those words were spoken, and yet the way her fingers lingered in my grasp for the briefest of moment told me that whatever was bothering her was extremely important to her. So, against my desire to let Aigis decide when to talk to me, I decided that I couldn't leave her without trying at least once.

"Aigis… is there something you'd like to talk about?"

My words stopped Aigis in an instant, and for a few seconds I was afraid that I had misread her actions. But that fear was quickly swept away by the relieved and joyful expression that had graced my girlfriend's features.

"I would, actually." She said as she smiled warmly at me. "Do you think it would be possible for you to take the day off from council duties tomorrow? We are only having morning classes, so I was hoping that we could go on a date… but only it that idea is acceptable."

"I can call Mitsuru-senpai and ask her, but… why so suddenly?"

"Well… you see…"

Aigis' gaze shifted downward as she bit her lip nervously, and she fidgeted nervously while she mumbled something that couldn't be heard over the drone of passing cars.

"I didn't quite catch that…"

"I… I cannot endure this any longer… just being beside you during class and walking home with you, it… it's not enough… not anymore."

"What…? I thought you were waiting for me every day for me…"

"You thought… that it… that I…"

Aigis looked up at me with an expression that clearly displayed the great confusion that she had voiced, and blinked several times before she regained her composure and continued.

"I… haven't been doing this for your sake alone… it did start out that way, but I also feel a need to spend time with you that I desperately need to fulfill…"

She shifted her weight onto one leg and leaned to the side as she held her arm at the elbow. After a few moments with a hesitant look on her face,

"And… sadly, just walking home with you isn't good enough anymore."

"…"

"I realize that this is very selfish of me, but I wish to return to the way we used to spend our afternoons… Together, enjoying each other's company, not apart with only enough time for us to say good bye… I understand your desire to assist Kirijo-senpai, but I do not know how much longer I can stand this…"

An awkward silence fell between us as we stood there on the sidewalk, the mid-spring breeze ruffling my girlfriend's hair as the drone of passing cars filled our senses. I felt a chill go down my spine as I took in the solemn expression that tainted Aigis' features, paralyzing me with the sheer longing and sorrow that radiated from her being. After a few moments of suffocating silence passed between us, I heard a soft sigh escape from the lips of my blonde-haired companion as she smiled weakly at me and slowly bowed.

"I am… sorry for troubling you with my selfishness… I will see you tomorrow, Minato-kun…"

With those sorrowful words left to hang in the air, my girlfriend gently pulled me into a quick embrace before she hurried inside, which left me to stare blankly at her retreating form as she quietly closed the door. And the sole thought that ran through my otherwise blank mind was something completely out of character for me:

"This shit ain't gonna fly anymore. Time to crack down and think about this _seriously_."

* * *

"_It's been a while since the last time I came here…_" I thought to myself as I stepped onto the polished wooden floor.

And indeed, I felt that it had been ages since I had set foot onto the indoor archery range of the Takeba household, a place that came to be in the spring vacation during our transition from middle school to high school. In order to secure her entrance into Gekkoukan's archery club, Yukari decided that she needed her own place to practice her archery as often as possible, which meant it had to be close to home. Thus, two weeks and several thousand yen later, the Takeba archery range for two was open for use.

Why two? Because Yukari also tried to drag me into the club with her.

"And I still can't believe that this gear still fits." I laughed gleefully as I adjusted my hard-leather chestplate once again. "It's been what, two years since I last wore this?"

I smile to myself as melancholic feeling stirs inside me at the familiar scene: the light of the setting sun glimmering through the glass ceiling and highlighting the exquisite sheen of the vigorously cleaned floors and the lone wooden-stand target about twenty meters away from me, fresh with a new foam target attached to the front.

"Yukari's taking very good care of this place… and my equipment is still clean. I'll have to thank her when she gets home." I thought to myself as I filled a quiver with about twenty practice arrows, my freshly-polished bow resting beside me.

Why am I here when I should be thinking about what to do tomorrow?

Put simply, even though I had refused to join Gekkoukan's archery club in order to pursue my own interests, I found that I could think much clearer while using a bow and arrows. Or rather, the eight stages of archery, _Ashibumi, Dozukuri, Yugamae, Uchiokoshi, Hikiwake, Kai, Hanare _and_ Zanshin_, were a procedure for training mental focus in themselves. Therefore, archery helps me think clearly.

How so? I can't really explain. Why now? Because I haven't been faced with a decision this important in a very long time. And this ritual is reserved especially for mental debates of great importance.

"Let's do this, then…" I murmured to myself as I took my sleek black longbow in my hands and pulled back on the bowstring several times. After only a few seconds I winced as a familiar pain shot through my fingers and forced me to release the bowstring.

"Oww…"

I grumble to myself as I give the taught bowstring a few extra pulls to re-accustom my fingers to the pain. After a few minutes the pain finally dwindles, and I pluck an arrow from the quiver set beside me, notch it on the bowstring, pull and release. The blunt metal arrow whips through the air, carrying the sunlight that shone from the ceiling above as it sinks itself into the target.

Satisfied at the results of my first shot, I let my body flow through the motions of the shots unconsciously as I began the debate in my mind.

_I envision three podiums lit by three individual lights on a hardwood stage. To the left is a podium labeled "Pro-Aigis" with an exasperated-looking version of myself wearing a white t-shirt and dark navy jeans. To the right is the representative of the "Pro-Council" side, a stoic, glasses-toting Minato in the Gekkoukan school uniform, with the collar buttoned up and looking equally agitated. In the middle stands the mediator, an Arisato Minato dressed in a judge's robe and gavel in hand. After both sides acknowledge each other and the mediator, the debate begins._

Notch.

"_The Pro-Aigis side may make the opening statement." Judge Minato bellows, rapping his gavel twice before nodding to the casually-dressed Minato._

"_Thank you." He nods as he walks forward from behind his booth. "Your honor, I submit to you that we should request a day off from Student Council activities tomorrow to Kirijo Mitsuru-san in favor of going on a date with our girlfriend Aigis."_

Pull.

"_Blasphemy!" Student Council Minato roars, "We gave our word to Kirijo-san that we would participate in Council activities until more members are recruited! We understand that Aigis-san is despairing, but we have an obligation to fulfill-"_

Loose.

"_Bull! If you really took Aigis' feelings into consideration we wouldn't be having this discussion!"_

Notch.

"_We are aware of Aigis-san's frustrations. But we made a vow to Kirijo-san and gained Aigis-san's initial approval to participate in Student Council even after explaining the situation in detail. A simple change in opinion is not reason enough to suddenly jump ship from our agreement-"_

Pull.

"_We told Aigis that it would only take a few weeks like Mitsuru-senpai said!" Casual Minato counters angrily, pounding his fist into the wooden podium before him. "And it's been more than a few weeks! I think that alone should be a good enough reason to at least ASK for a day off with Aigis, wouldn't you say?" _

"_And how do you think Kirijo-san will answer? She'll probably rain righteous fury on us until-"_

Loose.

"_Why would she do that! She was the one who hesitated to ask us to join Student Council out of concern for our relationship with Aigis! Why on earth would she be angry at us if we ask permission to skip tomorrow to take Aigis on a date?"_

Notch.

"_Even so, if we do that then that's going back on our word! We specifically promised to participate in Student Council until-"_

"_Until more people join, I get it. But we never made any promises, we only agree to join for the "short while" that Mitsuru-senpai promised."_

Pull.

"_No, we agreed to stay until the Student Council got more members. The "short while" Kirijo-san assumed was only implied."_

Loose.

"_Even so, she assured us that our stay would only be a short while. So why would she get angry if we ask for a day off when we've clearly gone over "a short while"!"_

The frustration I felt from my inability to come to a proper decision transferred itself into my actions, as the black steel arrows flew faster from my hands while my anger mounted.

"_BECAUSE WE AGREED TO STAY!" Student Minato roars. "Regardless of what circumstances we were guaranteed, we specifically promised to stay until the Student Council could recruit enough members to sustain itself once again!"_

"_So you're just going to ignore how Aigis is feeling? Is that what you're saying!"_

"_I already said that I see how Yamada-san feels! But we cannot shirk our responsibilities because of what we want to do! Priorities man, priorities!"_

"_Screw priorities! We've given over two weeks to priorities! All we'll be asking for is __**one day off**__. Is it really that unreasonable to ask for just that!"_

"_Yes it is! If we ask for one day off then we'll expect another, and another and another until we just stop going! It's madness!"_

"_You're the one who's crazy! Aigis thought that her request was selfish! She thinks that it's selfish of her to want to be with us! Is that not enough for you to find justification in at least asking for one day to spend time with her?"_

"_She is being selfish! She agreed to wait for us at the beginning of this ordeal, and she knows full well that we can't leave until-"_

_Pro-Council Minato's argument was interrupted as an enraged Casual Minato hurled himself at his bespectacled counterpart with a bestial battle cry, a loud thud echoing throughout the room as the two blue-haired males hit the floor._

"_Take that back! Aigis is __**not**__ being selfish!" Pro-Aigis Minato roared as he throttled the gurgling mess pressed to the wooden floor underneath him. "She's waited patiently for more than two weeks without a single complaint! If we don't at least try to get tomorrow off we're neglecting her as our girlfriend!"_

"_Nonsense!" Student Council Minato bellowed as he regained his senses and attempted to stop his raging counterpart. "If she waited three weeks for us then she can wait a few more! We agreed to help Kirijo-senpai and we need to stick to that agreement!" he growled as the two began to wrestle on the wooden floor._

"_You're just being an ass!"_

"_You're being negligent and irresponsible!"_

"_You're a terrible boyfriend!"_

"_At least I uphold my word!"_

"_That's stupid, especially since we've spend nearly THREE WEEKS 'upholding our word'!"_

"_It is not!"_

"_Yes it is!"_

"_No it isn't!"_

"_Yes it is!"_

"_No it isn't!"_

"_Yes it is-"_

I was interrupted from my currently pointless mental argument as a sharp pain shot through my right hand that forced me to drop my bow. As I winced in pain and dropped to my knees, I looked down to find that I had not only run out of arrows and had solely been plucking at the bowstring for God knows how long, but my fingers had also bled to the point that I found multiple drops on the floor as well as a few stains on my archery uniform.

"Oh no… Yukari's not gonna be happy about this…"

"No she isn't."

I quick whirled around in shock as I saw, both to my surprise and dismay, a certain brunette seated on the wooden floor near the doorway of the archery range in her usual house attire of a white sleeveless shirt and pink shorts quietly sipping from a can of melon soda.

"U-uh… Y-Yukari… hey…"

"Don't worry… I'm not too mad." Yukari murmured as she rose, and produced a first-aid kit from behind her back. "I came just as you were down to your last few arrows. You must have been really caught up in what you were thinking to not notice the cuts…"

"It was a very heated debate… though it ended in a mindless fight as usual." I sighed as Yukari began to bandage my injured extremity.

"It was something about Aigis right?"

"How'd you guess?"

"You looked really passionate about what you were doing, so I guess that was my first guess."

I silently watch my stepsister as she quietly places cloth bandages on my numerous cuts, pausing only when I occasionally wince in pain. After a few minutes of fidgeting on the cold, wooden floor of the archery range, Yukari finishes with a contented smile and releases my hand with a warm smile.

"There you go, all better."

"Thanks."

"No problem. Just make sure you don't keep Aigis waiting too long, okay?"

"I won't. That's what I was debating about."

"Good. Don't keep her waiting, it's probably really painful for her..."

With that comment and a friendly pat on the shoulder she walks out of the dojo to leave me to my own devices. Even so, despite the idiotic end to my mental arguing, I had come to a conclusion while Yukari had been bandaging my fingers.

I knew what needed to be done.

* * *

I had summoned up all the courage in my being and asked Mitsuru the fateful question with Aigis at my side. And to be honest, her punishment was quite fair and just.

…Come to think of it, it isn't even much of a punishment to begin with.

"All I ask is that you assist me in tracking down the Student Council's no-shows."

That was the response that I received from my scarlet-haired senpai after the few tense moments that followed my request. As it turned out, she was also feeling guilty about separating me and Aigis for so long, so she devised a solution that would satisfy everyone. She explained to us that out of the twelve students that had signed up for Student Council last year, six recruits had officially pulled out at the beginning of the new school year, while six had not given such notice and simply hadn't shown up. Thus, Mitsuru proposed that if we could find all six of the missing recruits during our lunch period, there would be no need for me to constantly attend council meetings anymore, a response that elicited an excited cheer from my elated girlfriend.

And so the three of us had spend the last forty minutes of our one hour lunch period hunting around for the six missing Council members in the expansive hallways of Gekkoukan High. Out of the five that we had managed to find, two students had legitimate changes in their circumstances and couldn't attend, so they withdrew; three had conveniently forgotten to attend, but quickly apologized and promised to show up from now on. We were rather happy that our search had been so successful, and were en route to our last escapee with about eighteen minutes to spare.

Aigis and I walked together, hand in hand and with happy smiles as we followed our scarlet-haired senpai down the crowded halls packed with a vast multitude of students to the school foyer, where one Sahashi Takeru was reportedly chatting with a few of his buddies. After a brief trek down the main stairwell we found the tall, black-haired second year chatting with a small group of very excited first-year girls.

"Excuse me, Sahashi Takeru-san?" Mitsuru addressed the lanky junior, which caused the small crowd of girls to disperse with a chorus of giggles. "May I have a word?"

The addressed junior dramatically spun on his heel and greeted us with a cheerful smile that froze as he became aware of Mitsuru's presence.

"Err… this is about student council, isn't it…"

"Yes, yes it is."

"…"

After a moment of silent contemplation, the junior rubbed his chin as if he were contemplating something and then…

He bolted, his quick footsteps echoing down the halls as he hurried towards the Laboratory hallway of the first floor.

"…I was afraid this was going to happen…" Mitsuru sighed. "Aigis-san! He's heading to the track field behind the school, so see if you can cut him off. Minato, you're with me."

"Yes ma'am!" my girlfriend and I responded as I squeezed Aigis' hand for good luck before she ran with her arms flung behind her to the shortcut to the track field.

"Let's move!"

Mitsuru and I gave chase down the hallway that Takeru had disappeared into and barely caught him trying to sneak into the kendo gymnasium. However, once he caught sight of us he threw himself into the room and attempted to slam the door shut, which I luckily (and painfully) stopped with my foot. Mitsuru brushed past me while our prey murmured a stream of curses and fled back into the hallway through the opposite door. Mitsuru and I continued to give chase through the rest of the sports hallway; occasionally bumping into club members until finally, our victim had no choice but to flee outside to the track area.

"You'll never catch me!" the lanky young man laughed as he threw the double doors open-

And that was all he managed to get out before a yellow and black bullet flew out of the side and knocked Sahashi Takeru to the ground. Bruised but otherwise unharmed, the black-haired junior attempted to get back on his feet, only to be stopped when Mitsuru planted her boot in the poor guy's chest.

"W-What do you want?" he quivered as I helped Aigis back to her feet and helped brush her shirt off. "I-I haven't done anything!"

"That is precisely why we are here." Mitsuru frowned as she dug her boot into the guy's chest.

Oh no… she's mad. Must have been all the running.

"You haven't been attending Student Council activities despite the fact that you signed up for that club last year. Why is that?"

"I-I-I had to help m-my mom w-with some stuff! Don't hurt me!" the poor guy whimpered as he tried to remove himself from underneath Mitsuru's boot.

"Then is it safe to assume that you're finished with whatever you've been assisting your mother with?"

"Yes…"

"Then please start attending student council activities from today onward." Mitsuru smiled as she removed her boot from Takeru's chest.

The three of us watched the retreating back of the Kirijo heir, and judging from Aigis' and Takeru's expressions, we were all thinking the same thing: "_That's it!_"

"Oh, and Sahashi-san…?"

Mitsuru turned back to the lanky junior once more, an icily strict expression haunting her normally elegant features.

"Since my father owns the school, I have certain… _privileges_, which includes access of the student records. So please keep in mind… _I know where you live_."

With that final warning, our scarlet-haired senpai once again turned around to the sports clubs' hallway, leaving a sobbing young man to quiver in place as Aigis and I followed silently.

"Now that that's been taken care of, why don't I go inform Nakamura of the good news?" Mitsuru hummed to herself. "Oh, and Arisato-san, consider yourself relieved from Council duties until you feel the need to return."

With that, she waved a brief farewell at us before heading off to the school foyer, leaving Aigis and I to stand there in wonder.

Well, at least now I can go on a date with Aigis today…

"Minato-kun…?" Aigis questioned softly with a somewhat frightened look in her eyes.

"…Yes?"

"Please remind me never to get on Mitsuru-san's bad side…"

"Okay…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"..."

"… Hey Aigis?"

"Yes?"

"We should both stay on Mitsuru-senpai's good side…"

"I agree…"

With that out of the way, we quickly returned to our classroom to eat our lunches in a slight rush. Even so, Aigis and I couldn't help smiling and relishing the fact that finally, after two weeks of painful separation, we once again had our time after school to enjoy ourselves in each others' company. And as Ms. Terauchi waltzed in for our fourth period class, I couldn't help but smile in gleeful anticipation of my date with Aigis after school.

"_Finally…_" I thought as Ms. Terauchi started her lesson. "_I get to go on a date with the girl I love again._"

* * *

Wow, it took me a loooooooooooong while to revamp this -_- Anywho, I think I've done a better job on this chapter this time around, so feel free to leave reviews. Hope you enjoyed it, and all constructive criticism is greatly appreciated.

And the next chapter with Aigis and Minato's long-awaited date will hopefully be coming soon since I already have everything set up in my mind. Thanks for reading and hope you stay for the next installation of Let Me Be with You!

Also, sorry for the… four-month delay lol? xD I was busy x_x Really busy... sorry.


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